Broken Giants-40k Imperial Knights
by Mattwho81
Summary: An Imperial Knights Story, a lance of Knights find their war is more desperate than they realise.
1. Chapter 1

**Broken Giants: Chapter 1**

(An Imperial Knights Tale

The city soared away into the heavens above, vast towering hab blocks and skyways blocking out almost all light leaving endless valleys where no sun ever reached, the top of the buildings far above were resplendent with soaring architecture and pristine mosaics but the lowest levels were filthy with bloody smears and smoking wreckage. The lowest streets were filled with rubble, burned out transports and rotting corpses in rags so torn that it was impossible to tell what colours or insignia they may once have worn.

Into this scene charged two towering giants, each a mammoth construction of gears, pistons and armour plating moving with an unstoppable momentum, they could have come stright from legend for they were the rarest of sights: Imperial Knights. Clad in green and grey they bore the ascending spear and cog wheel sun heraldry of House Verico and the scars of many battles showed upon their ablatives plates. The first Knight carried the traditional Thermal lance and Reaper Chainblade of a Knight Errant but also a pair of autocannons high on its carapace and it was engraved with the name 'Heart of Zeal'. The second wielded an avenger bolt cannon along with a massive crushing fist and it bore a missile pod high above, it was a Knight Warden and bore the name 'Lifeward'.

Opposing them at the far end of the road was an equally a massive armoured form, it sat on a broad caterpillar tracks mounted with vats of boiling blood and from its prow rose a humanoid statue like a Cyntar of ancient myth. It was a Lord of Skulls, a Daemon Engine of Chaos covered in marks of Khorne and symbols of allegiance to the Night Lords, it crushed lesser vehicles under its tracks as it raced forwards and bellowed in a disturbingly organic fashion. Its face gnashed great metal teeth in a manner no mere machine had any right to do so and in one hand it held a great brass cleaver festooned with brazen skulls, its other arm was a skull hurler canon while in its belly sat the devastating form of an Ichor canon. As it rolled forwards the Lord of Skulls raised its skull hurler and targeted the approaching knights, it lingered for a moment then fired a projectile as wide as a grown man towards 'Heart of Zeal'.

Without a moment's hesitation 'Lifeward' leapt forwards and veered into path of the shell, a bare metre from the Knight's hull the projectile detonated making flame and shrapnel curve harmlessly around its Ion shield. The Lord of Skulls raised its cleaver in anticipation of the coming fight but before it could close the distance 'Heart of Zeal' stepped around its protector and let loose a blast from its thermal lance. A searing torrent of heat and radiation hit the Daemon engine full on melting armour and burning through thick plates, any lesser machine would have been destroyed but the Lord of Skulls was the product of infernal science and blasphemous rites, it endured the tank killing blast with imperious disdain and growled as it trundled closer to its prey.

As it passed a shadowy side street there was a burst of movement and from the shadows sprang forth another massive form, taller than any of the other war machines, it was a Knight Lancer and it moved with a speed and grace that put its lumbaring cousins to shame. Before the Lord of Skulls could even begin to come about the Lancer closed the distance and rammed its shock lance into the rear of the Daemon engines' caterpillar unit.

A colossal burst of flame and metal exploded from the rear of the monstrosity as it bellowed in pain and anger, the torso section rotated on its gimbal and as it did so it brought the great cleaver about in a roundhouse blow. The newly arrived Lancer moved with surprising speed raising its Ion gauntlet to intercept the strike and the two weapons met in a blaze of discharging lighting and thunder, the Lord of Skulls drew back its arm and swung again but the Lancer swiftly stepped back and the cursed axe missed entirely. The momentum of the attack caused the Lord of Skulls to lurch drunkenly and the Lancer jumped forwards to plunge its shock lance into the heart of the Daemon engine, the monster screamed at the penetration of its form but was helpless to resist. The Lancer's servos growled as it pressed its lance deeper into its foe and then it discharged all the energy stored within the weapon to cause fat flames to erupt from every joint, the Lord of Skulls screamed as its physical form was destroyed and the Neverborn within lost its hold on reality.

With a great shudder the Lord of Skulls fell still, dropping its axe as it slumped over and the fire died in its eyes, with the animating Daemon gone the metal hulk began to crumble and fall apart, shedding metal plates like it was aging centuries in mere moments. The Knights took no chances though, as the Lancer stepped back the Errant advanced and lowered its Thermal Lance to incinerate the remains into slag.

As silence fell 'Heart of Zeal' shut off its weapon and the pilot surveyed his work, the human core of the Knight was a young man, barely more than fifeteen Terran years old with only the faintest stubble upon his chin, his name was Sir Kayar and he was second in line to the Patriarchy of House Verico. This was his first deployment off world since his Ritual of Becoming, only a few months earlier, he was here to learn the Arts of War first hand and to make sure he survived the youthful heir had been assigned a protector, his stalwart companion 'Lifeward' piloted by his tutor Hendrick.

Kayar breathed heavily, thrilled by the rush of the fight and he directed his steed's sensorium to regard the third Knight, the Lancer was sleeker and deadlier than its kin and whereas the other knights carried woven banners and flags it carried midnight helms hung from chains still smeared with Night Lord blood. Its shocklance still shone with power that illuminated the name 'Frostfury' upon its chest and its white and gold livery was a contrast to their green and grey colours, upon its shoulders was the emblem of a snarling feline head below a shining crown: House Pardus the clan of the High King of San Grael himself.

"Well that went as well as can be expected" voxed a voice from within the Lancer.

Kayar's temper flared at being spoken to in such a manner, his youthful pride making him bark, "That kill should have been ours Daeran!"

Sir Daeran the pilot of 'Frostfury' ignored the insolent remark and said, "This sector is clear and we need to move on, can you and your babysitter can keep up?"

"Hendrick is the Lifeward of House Verico, an ancient honoured position not a babysitter" spat Kayar, "You take point and don't worry about us and we can handle anything you can."

Sir Daeran replied, " Good, because we've received a signal from the Reaver Titan Deus Invicta, the Legio Astraman has smashed the rebels' main force; the only thing now between the Imperium and the governors' tower is an artillery position on the main skyway. It has stalled the Imperial Guard's advance and even Titans can't assault the last rebel stronghold without infantry support, the Princeps Senioris orders us to rendezvous with the rest of the Knights. Follow me and watch the flanks, keep a sharp eye out for lurking rebels."

Kayar resented having such obvious advice spelled out like he was an idiot, but Sir Daeran was his appointed superior so he shut his mouth and followed 'Frostfury' deeper into the city. As the Knights moved on they mounted an access way that climbed steeply and joined a wide roadway suspended high above the streets, this road continued to climb ever higher until the ground was completely lost in the shadows cast by the buildings. As they rose Kayar could see the centre of the city far ahead, mountainous buildings encircled by skyways forming a tight knot of steel and stone. Not quite a Hive City yet but in as little as a millennia it might deserved the title, assuming the Imperial army didn't level everything first.

Kayar constantly scanned the surrounding buildings as he opened up a private vox channel to his companion and he whined "That was just humiliating, I could have taken that beast myself if only Daeran had let us close with it." Hendrick voxed back exasperated by the conceited ego of youth, "He is the senior Knight here; the right of first blood was his to claim."

Kayar declared, "Daeran is an arrogant swine!"

Hendrick growled in rebuke, "SIR Daeran has fought more wars than you've had hot meals boy, he has earned the right to be proud and you would do well to learn from his example." Kayar gave that all the consideration due from a young man who had just been handed the controls of a mighty War Machine as he whined, "But I could've taken the glory of the kill!"

Hendrick spat, "Boy, if you had gone toe to toe with that thing then you'd be a burnt corpse right now and may I reiterate if you get yourself stupidly killed my own sons' lives are forfeit. Now pay attention to your surroundings or you're going to miss that rebel five stories up".

Kayar directed his sensorium upwards and saw a rebel leaning out of an window high above them, struggling to bring a bulky missile launcher to bear towards 'Frostfury's' back. Despite all his training Kayar couldn't help but hesitate as he mused what would happen if he just let the rebel fire, it couldn't do any real damage and it would be so good to see Daeran taken down a notch. Then he shook off the treasonous thought and swung his Icarus guns around to let off a thunderous burst, the autocannons were designed to take out armoured flyers and they simply shredded the rebel to pieces.

Hendrick sensed his hesitation as he said, "Problem boy?"

It's nothing" Kayar lied, but secretly he was shamed, his Throne Mechanicum retained an imprint of every pilot who had bonded with it and right now the countless ghosts of his ancestors were glowering stern disapproval of such dishonourable thoughts at him. As much as he disliked Daeran the man had been appointed as their Magna Preceptor by both the Patriarch of House Verico and the High King of San Grael, it was just that he was so unbearable and the collection of Night Lord Helms was making him jealous. To distract himself he said, "I was just thinking about these damned rebels, what could drive a man to turn on his lords and masters?"

Hendrick sighed and lectured him, "Alamanium sits on the prime warp nexus between the St Karyl Trail and the Tyrannid wars in the Heraculan Deeps. So the munitorum has seized vast tracts of land to turn into supply posts and depots, the locals seem to resent this somewhat and have thrown in their lot with the Night Lords, which you would know if you had paid attention to the briefings boy."

"My lord!" exclaimed Kayar, "You're not even a proper noble, you're a commoner so you have to call me my lord, why does my grandfather let you speak to me thus?!" Hendrick growled, "Because my family has protected the heirs to House Verico for generations and right now its my job to keep you alive not lick your boots."

Hendrick carried on, "Now shut up, the rendezvous is just ahead and you are about to witness how a full Lance of Imperial Knights fights a proper war."


	2. Chapter 2

**Broken Giants: Chapter 2**

On a skyway high above the dirt a rendezvous was taking place, six mighty war machines regrouping to unite their strength for one mighty push. Kayar was sealed into 'Heart of Zeal' while the three new knights reported and he was not sure whether their presence was an improvement or not.

He looked at the first and saw it was a Knight Gallant, bearing the heaviest of close combat weapons and named 'Retribution's Fist'. Its colours were brown and black and it bore the heraldry of House Ursal, Kayar had met the noble within and found Sir Lugarn to be belligerent, rash and coarse: the perfect Gallant pilot. The second was called 'Unyielding Honour', a sky blue Crusader piloted by Sir Delphan of House Gyrfalcon; he was wise, disciplined and reserved, laying down supporting fire that undoubtedly had saved his brethren on countless occasions.

The third was the dark silhouette of a Knight Acheron marked with dark shades of umber and the heraldry of House Jacquar, the machine was called 'Stygian Blaze' and the pilot was called Sir Howle, a haughty cur from an arrogant House. Kayar had never met another knight who made him so uncomfortable, perhaps it was the tainted spirit of the Acheron or simply Sir Howle's nature but nobody else took such relish in burning the enemy from their bunkers and gunning them down as they fled.

Beyond their meeting was a plaza made up of a series of platforms suspended between three skyways and it boasted perfect coverage of every approach, on every patch of ground were piles of debris with the barrels of heavy weapons protruding through and behind those were scores of long artillery barrels pointing skywards. A constant stream of flashes and roars erupted from the artillery flinging shells down into the city and rocking the lower levels with explosions, without the Vox it would have been impossible to hold a conversation. The six knights came together and Daeran said briskly without preamble, "Situation report."

Kayar would have taken offence at such brusque talk but these were experienced warriors and knew there was time for ritual and this was not it, it was Lugarn who said, "That strongpoint cuts off every approach from half the city, they have had days to dig in and every square inch is hiding a gun emplacement. Behind them are enough Earthshakers to take down the walls of Terra and it looks like they've broken into the munitorum depots because they've been letting off shells none stop since before we arrived and show no signs of running dry."

Hendrick asked, "Hasn't the guard tried taking out the structural supports?"

"First thing they tried" Replied Lugarn, "The first sapper team they sent into the lower levels came back without their eyes, the second came back without ears and the third without tongues. At that point scuttlebutt got out that Night Lords are lurking down there and the men refused to go down again."

Hendrick stated "Did the Commissars have anything to say about that?"

"Oh yes they did" exclaimed Lugarn, "First they shot all the men who came back alive for undermining morale then they tried organising some firing squads to buck up the rest, but they disappeared."

"The men?" asked Kayar curiously.

"The commissars" stated Lugarn, "One minute they were there the next they just disappeared, they found their heads stacked up in a nice little row by the entrance to the underway, caps still attached. After that, well even the Guard generals weren't brainless enough to stick their foot into that Vespids' nest."

"So they just gave up?" started Daeran in shocked tone of voice and even Kayar had to agree with the sentiment.

"Ohhhhh no" chuckled Howle, "When being crafty didn't work out for them they resorted to good old fashioned brute force, they sent a whole regiment up that skyway, they didn't even get half way. The rebel bastards had a merry time boxing the idiots in and taking their time gunning the survivors down, they must be laughing their faces off over there."

Kayar felt disquiet at the relish in Howle's voice, there was something unseemly in the enjoyment he took from seeing his fellow men die but Daeran cut in "Right well, they've never faced a charge of Imperial Knights before, we'll give them something to wipe the smug grins off their faces: Adopt Cavalier Spearhead formation."

With their orders given the six Knights formed up into a solid line standing shoulder to shoulder, their Ion shields overlapping and reinforcing each other to create a solid wall of energy before them. Daeran said, "March!" and as one they stepped forwards, advancing straight up the skyway, stepping over piles of corpses and kicking wrecked vehicles out of their paths like toys. 'Heart of Zeal' snagged a burnt out Chimera and sent it spinning over the edge of the skyway, spilling corpses into the gloomy depths as it disappeared.

Almost immediately the rebels saw the striding formation of Knights and brought weapons to bear, Kayar saw a flash and then a hail of lascannons fire and battlecannon shells fell upon them but thankfully the Ionic wall held, the Knights could not risk full speed without breaking formation but each great step took them closer and closer to the foe and they covered the distance swiftly. Within seconds the intensity of fire increased, Las and shell creating a horizontal blizzard of destruction that made their force wall turn opaque, as the wall stretched a few random shots began to slip through and the Knights felt their front armour begin to quiver and burn from the impacts.

They had already passed the last line of the Guardsmen's doomed advance but the distance was still too great to survive such an onslaught unprotected and the long barrels of the earth shakers were slowly tracking round to target them, the knights had to supress the enemy fast or they would never make it. Daeran bellowed, "Suppressing fire!" and the Knights opened up with their long range weapons, blitzing the platforms ahead and cutting down droves of enemies.

Iron storm missiles exploded over the emplacements showering rebels in shrapnel while Avenger cannons tore through plascrete barrcades making a mockery of their protection, meanwhile 'Frostfury' and 'Stygian Blaze' sent plasma blasts and heavy bolter shells hurtling over the enemy's heads, doing little damage but making them keep their heads down. Kayar targeted a turret emplacement with 'Heart of Zeal's' Thermal lance and watched as it cut through the plasteel like a hot knife through butter, the ammunition cache must have been hit as the turret suddenly exploded and burned leaving a thick cloud of smoke.

The intensity of incoming fire was slackening and the Knights were almost in range but at that moment Lugarn let out a wild yell and broke ranks to charge 'Retributions Fist' straight into the enemy leaving a gap in the lines and a break in the force wall. Daeran roared furiously "Get back into line!" but it was too late, Lugarn was lost in the frenzy of combat and was desperate to engage. Behind him the gap in the force wall instantly drew the attention of the rebel gunners, a flurry of Las bolts hurtling forwards and cutting deeply into the Knight's frontal armour,

Kayar heard Delphan bark in agony as a Lascannon shot punched through his armour to scythe deeply into his steed, servo motors and rupturing delicate control filaments blew out and sacred oils ran like blood. Daeran barked, "Cover him good Sirs!" and Kayar and Hendrick immediately stepped in, angling their Ion shields to cover Delphan as he wrestled to drag 'Unyielding Honour' back into line.

The Ionic wall was a bubble of pure white now, barely holding against the sheer weight of fire but then Lugarn reached the enemy and he wrecked such a terrible carnage that the incoming fire slackened off. A few more steps and then the Knights were in amongst the rebels, Daeran roared, "Break formation and attack!"

As one the knights leapt forwards and unleashed their fury, Howle was first in as 'Stygian Blazes' flame cannon lay waste to the first rank and left incinerated corpses in his wake. Delphan followed him in 'Unyielding Honour' its' battlecannon and bolt cannon smashing knots of enemy resistance and his Iron storm missiles spraying swathes of enemies with shrapnel.

Elsewhere Kayar plunged 'Heart of Zeal' deep into the rebel formation, seeking out heavy emplacements and turning them into slag with his Thermal cannon, Hendrick escorted him with 'Lifeward', guarding his flanks and making sure no rebel could get around behind them. The rebels sought to bring heavy weapons around to bear but the Knights moved too fast and small arms fire pattered off their armour and shields like rain, the few who managed to form any resistance were obliterated with concentrated fire or simply stomped and kicked aside by massive metal feet the size of wagons. With the enemy lines shattered 'Frostfury' and 'Retributions Fist' ran straight through the milling rebels and broke through to the Earthshakers themselves, using reaper blade and Shock lance Daeran and Lugarn tore into the helpless artillery, their cries of triumph and cheers resounding in the vox with every explosion and screech of rendered metal.

With the loss of the artillery the rebels' courage broke and they fled screaming from the invincible Knights heading back towards the access way to the far skyways but there they found 'Stygian Blaze' waiting for them. Bawling with laughter Howle unleashed waves of searing flame into the packed enemy, his merriment only increasing as he watched them flail and jump off the plaza into the depths bellow. Those at the back tried to get away but found 'Unyielding Honour', 'Heart of Zeal' and 'Lifeward' waiting behind them, caught between two implacable foes the rebels were cut down and not a single man escaped.

As the battle subsided the Knights circled the area looking for stragglers while waiting for the Imperial Guard to secure the area, each lost in his own thoughts as they came down off the high of battle and their life support flushed their bodies of stimms. Most of the Knights ticked as they cooled down and vented steam from their power cores but 'Unyielding Honour' leaked trickles of black smoke and random sparks flashed under its armour as it moved.

Kayar opened a private Vox-link to Delphan and asked, "Are you wounded sir?"

Delphan replied briskly, "There is no need for concern Sir Kayar, my steed and I have endured worse than this before".

"It should never have happened" muttered Kayar, "That fool Daeran should have known Lugarn was unsound".

Delphan snapped "Sir Daeran is the commander of this mission, it is not our place to question only obey. In battle the engagement will never unfold as you expect, it is the skilled commander who can recognise and seize such a moment" with that he severed the link.

As usual Hendrick was listening in on what was supposed to be a private conversation saying, "You should listen to him, that man has seen more wars than the rest of us combined and has the scars to prove it".

Kayar spat, "Delphan should have been made commander of the second Lance, Abandon's balls he should have been made Magna Preceptor of this whole mission."

Hendrick said frankly, "House Ursal is very close to the High King of San Grael, his valued ally and most devoted supporter, whereas House Gyrfalcon opposes him on several matters of state. They chose honour over expediency and now suffer the consequences; you need to learn the art of politics if you ever intend to inherit the rule of House Verico boy."

As the Guard moved up the Knights came back together and Daeran addressed them, "There's been a development, the Legio Astraman should be making the final push by now but all we're getting is garbled messages over the Vox, the last signal was received was Deus Invicta calling for urgent assistance."

Daeran turned 'Frostfury' towards the heart of the city and declared, "Form up and follow me, this war is not over yet."


	3. Chapter 3

**Broken Giants: Chapter 3**

From the plaza the Lance of Knights advanced in formation, utterly confident of their ability to handle anything the rebels could throw at them, Guardsmen gaped at their passing for the sight of such mighty war machines from the Dark Age of Technology left them dumbfounded and in awe. The Knights left the Imperial Guard in their wake to secure the artillery position and pushed onward into the rebel city, moving with the speed of giants as they marched deeper into the heart of the foe. As they marched they passed under the shadow of towering buildings and over the wreckage of fleeing civilian transports, stepping over conveyances and Cargo-8's like they were nothing. This was the scene of some of the earliest fighting of the rebellion and the wrecks were burnt out, filled with bodies that were decaying and riddled with clouds of flies that flew up with every heavy step of the Knights.

Inside 'Heart of Zeal' Kayar was sweeping diligently for threats but also a part of him was thrilling at the power under his command, the strength and might at his fingertips made his young heart giddy and he now understood why older knights said they were not complete without their steeds. Yet despite all that another part of him was also struggling to hold back his nausea for his sensorium was feeding him detailed images of the rotting corpses, the detritus and destruction left behind by war and the sight was more disturbing than he could possibly have imagined. He had been trained from birth from this role, spent every minute of his fifteen years preparing to fight as a Knight but theory and practice were a long way from reality and the actual experience was not turning out as he had expected.

The other Knights did not seem to even notice the carnage all around, treating it with utter disdain and Kayar wondered if this was in truth an affection, a way for them not to observe things they did not want to see. He took comfort in the ghosts of his ancestors, whose echoes rang from the depths of the Throne Mechanicum telling him that he should be above of such concerns, that an Imperial Knight must be proud and unyielding of spirit. Kayar swallowed his bile and followed the rest of the Lance as they they split off the Skyway and headed up the streets between buildings, there were no more gaps or crevices in the road and the scene looked like any earthbound city street. It was tempting to forget one was in fact suspended high above the ground, no doubt a deliberate conceit so the ruling elite of this world could more easily ignore the downtrodden masses lurking in the depths below.

The buildings were covered in frescos and murals that were marred by shell impacts and blast craters, Kayar's nobleman education had included matters of art and architecture, though he had far preferred his fencing and simulated combat training but he could still tell this was priceless work and he gritted his teeth at the uncultured manners of the rebels: the sooner the Imperium wiped out this stain the better. His tutors had instilled a great hatred of heretics in his heart but he would have sought out their extermination regardless, the thrill of power that came with commanding a Knight and the ghosts of his ancestors demanded no less.

Kayar was disturbed by how easily his mind was wandering, the other Knights had warned him that the Throne Mechanicum could cause mood swings but he had dismissed that as the rambling of old men, now he was wishing he had listened more. He was jolted out of his self-reflections when he heard Howle saying over the vox, "Doesn't this seem odd to anyone else, since when do Titans call for help?"

"I've never seen it in all my years" replied Delphan.

Hendrick declared, "It's not just that, Titan Legios are proud, very proud, for one to call for urgent assistance means the Grox-dung must have really hit the exhaust port."

Kayar spoke up and said, "You're all being paranoid; the Legio Astraman deployed a Reaver Titan and two Warhounds to this campaign. They are God-machines, world breakers, what could possibly threaten a force like that?"

He wanted to sound bold but was aware it sounded more like a callow denial which was not helped when Hendrick muttered "Nothing we want to meet."

"All right stow the chatter" voxed Daeran, "Look sharp I'm seeing signs of battle here."

As the Knights closed to within sight of the Governor's own skyscraping tower the buildings were increasingly torn and ragged, great gouges had been torn from their gilded fronts and whole floors had been fused into a solid mass by the might of huge Plasma weapons. Imperial Guard transports were scattered all about still flaming and smoking and the bodies of Guardsmen were spread everywhere, barely recognisable as human such was the violence wrought against them. Curiously there didn't seem to be any rebel bodies among the dead and it was most unlike them to collect their own, the followers of Chaos typically delighted in spreading carnage and wanton destruction. Daeran voxed "Deus Invicta has definitely been through here but I can't detect any energy signatures, spread out and make a visual sweep, we need to catch up."

The Knights spread out through the high streets, stepping over piles of the dead and peering into foyers and the atriums of empty buildings, Kayar was growing disturbed for this was the Traitor Governor's last line of defence; it should have been the site of the fiercest resistance yet the only bodies they were finding were those of Imperials. That the fighting here had been fierce was obvious but what had they been fighting against Kayar wondered, he pondered if perhaps the rebels had boasted Super-heavy tanks that they had looted from the Munitorium depots. A few Hellhammers or maybe a handful of Stormlords could wreck this kind of devastation but even that didn't seem quite right, he was shook out of his reverie by a signal from a shell of a Mega-Warehouse, it was Delphan and he was voxing, "I've found something, you should come and see… you should all see this." Cautiously the Knights approached one by one, easily passing under the lintel of the massive door into the shadows beyond and what waited them shocked them into silence.

A colossal metal giant lay face down on the shattered plascrete, it dwarfed their own steeds and had limbs the size of Knights sprawled around its body. The length of it would have taken a man five minutes to walk end to end and the power of its weapons could have leveled a city, a massive hole had been blown straight through its chest and from it leaking fire and radiation: it was an Imperial Reaver Titan, it was 'Deus Invicta' and it was dead.

The Knights stood over the wreckage of 'Deus Invicta' and surveyed the carnage, they were most disquieted by the sight for though no knight would admit it they all secretly held the Titans in jealous awe. The Reaver had been an like adult standing next to a child in comparison to their own steeds, it had been a towering Lord of War that outclassed any one of them in every regard and now it was a twisted pile of metal.

Kayar stepped 'Heart of Zeal' closer to inspect the cavity in its chest; the hole went straight through the Titan exposing gantries and energy conduits and it was melted at the edges where Plasma from the reactor had blown out. Kayar gulped nervously as he realised the implications and he said "Do you think a Shadowsword did this?"

Hendrick answered "You better hope it was."

Kayar didn't understand and said "What's that supposed to mean?"

It was Howle who stated, "Because if this wasn't the work of a Shadowsword then it was something much, much worse… and it's still out there."

That gave everybody a start and they whipped about with weapons raised as if expecting a Daemon to leap out at them from the shadows of the Mega-Warehouse but there was nothing lurking there. Daeran refused to let them wallow in fear and boldly declared, "Everyone spread out, look for a way to move deeper into the city and be alert for threats, call if you encounter anything suspicious, remember Knight's strength lays in our ability to work as a team."

For once Kayar couldn't fault him and he set 'Heart of Zeal's' auspex to maximum gain, there was an indistinct energy reading nearby but something interfered with the return creating a jumpy static filled image. The six Knights moved back out into the street and cautiously crept along, Kayar kept close to Hendrick seeking shelter from his presence, the youth was too brash to admit it but he was feeling lost and uncertain, only the presence of the ghosts in his mind kept him from shaking as his ancestors rebuked him to stand tall and proud.

The Knight moved slowly along searching for hidden ambushers, they kept out of the centre of the road for it was too exposed to enemy fire and they all knew a Shadowsword could obliterate them in one shot if they were careless. Kayar found it to be an odd sight, Knights were towering giant war machines yet here they were sneaking along, keeping to the sides of the road like the poorest bloody infantry.

He watched Delphan peer into a crater blown into a building's front exposing as little as possible like a Guardsman checking a bunker. Meanwhile Daeran and Lugarn were sweeping ahead, their close combat weapons were a poor choice against infantry but could be decisive against any super-heavy tanks they encountered so they kept their chainblades revving and shock lances charged.

Kayar voxed Hendrick and said, "What do you think is out there?"

Hendrick replied, "I'm not sure but there to take down a Reaver there must have been more than one, perhaps a squadron of Helldrakes, a wedge of Decimator engines or maybe Brass Scorpions, perhaps even some more Lord of Skulls… better keep those autocannons primed."

Kayar triple checked his carapace weapons as he said, "Can we take that?"

Hendrick said, "Knights can take anything in the galaxy if we work together and are well led."

Kayar was about to make a nervous comment about that but before he could speak Howle steered 'Stygian Blaze' down a dark alley and stooped to move under an arch saying, "I think I can see a way through." However before he could step through the archway moved and smashed into his chassis, 'Stygian Blaze' flew out of the alleyway as huge pillar of metal swung into it, it didn't move fast but the sheer momentum of it was irresistible and it hurled the Knight away like a kicked toy, the Acheron staggered drunkenly as it fought for balance and moved backwards with feet skipping beneath it. Kayar looked up at what had hit Howle and he gasped in terrified horror at what he saw.

What they had all taken to be supporting columns were in fact vast legs and the overhanging gantries a huge body three times the height of a Knight, its shoulders carried missile launchers capable of levelling a building with every shot and its arms were weapons intended to annihilate whole armies. The monster's body was a pulsating fusion of fleshmetal and it possessed a prehensile tail that whipped and curled from its spine, it's head was the size of a truck and peered down at the gathered Knights with a leering mouth that twisted into an impossible smile on the metalwork. The monstrosity let loose a blast from a warhorn so loud that it shattered windows all around them creating a rainstorm of glass shards that bounced from the hulls of the other war machines and for the first time the Knights knew fear.

This was the ultimate arbiter of war, a God-Machine that put their own steeds to shame: it was a Warlord Titan of Chaos and it was looking right at them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Broken Giants: Chapter 4**

In the heart of the city the six knights confronted the Chaos Titan, it soared over them its sheer size and weight taking their breath away, its limbs was as thick as the body of a Knight engine and its armour was lurid and detailed with sick pornographic icons. One arm was the heavy plasma weapon known as a sunfury annihilator and the other was a terrifying Volcano Cannon while high on its carapace sat a pair of apocalypse missile launchers.

For long seconds the Titan and the Knights stared at each other, each seemingly stunned to see the other and then the moment was broken as a pair of shells exploded against its void shields. Standing on the other side of the road was 'Unyielding Honour' with it arms raised, it was unleashing a barrage of fire as Delphan shouted, "It's still recovering from the fight with 'Deus Invicta', the targeting auspex's are in the middle of full reset, hit it now!"

With a thunderous roar the Knights opened up with everything they had, shells and missiles impacting on the void shields to do little damage but creating a dazzling blaze of explosions. Under the covering fire 'Frostfury' and 'Retributions Fist' charged forwards seeking to bring their heavy melee weapons to bear, if they could strike before the Titan fully awoke then all the advantages would be theirs. A Titan was a God-machine, a massive monument to destruction; they were unstoppable, inevitable but they were notoriously slow and the Knights should have drawn first blood however this Titan was different.

Before the Knights could strike a massive tail, bulging with sickening fleshy muscle and with a wrecking ball on the end, whipped around its hull and caught 'Retributions Fist' across the chest. The impact lifted the Knight from the ground throwing it right through the wall of the nearest building and 'Retributions Fist' sprawled on its back as a pile of rubble cascaded down and buried it. With a howl of scrapcode the Titan roared its triumph for all to hear and laced into that binary burst was its corrupted name, 'Lator Angor'.

Daeran yelled, "Lugarn's down fire for effect bring down the Void shields!" and the remaining Knights shifted their fire towards the Titan's head seeking to distract it, a barrage of shells and bolts crashed into the energy barrier and then with a flash of light and static one of its void shields collapsed. With the Titan distracted Daeran charged 'Frostfury' in and slammed his shock lance into the pulsating fleshmetal of the foes' leg. The disruption field blazed like a magnesium flare and the lance bit deep, tearing through armour and pistons, burning warped flesh and leaving a massive crater in the Titan's shin.

Daeran fell back as the Titan's tail whipped round, he caught the blow upon his Ion Gauntlet shield but the physical impact still sent him staggering, Kayar seized the distraction to level his Thermal Lance and let loose with a salvo of covering fire. He was rewarded with the electro-static bang of another Void shield collapsing but before he could celebrate his auspex was overwhelmed by a massive power surge as 'Lator Angor' suddenly surged forwards, moving into the Knights' formation and scattering them like leaves on a path.

"Its targeting spirts have awoken!" yelled Delphan, "Its weapon spirits will stir in sixty seconds!"

Hendrick shouted, "Were not doing enough damage!"

"Knights reform, adopt Scorpion formation!" shouted Daeran, "Delphan, Howle take the left flank, Hendrick with me on the right, Kayar you are the sting!"

With peerless coordination the knights split formation 'Stygian Blaze' and 'Unyielding Honour' sprinting to the left of 'Lator Angor' while 'Frostfury' and 'Lifeward' went right. Howle and Daeran sent up a barrage of flames and plasma blasts that bounced off the void shields, doing little damage but lighting them up and distracting the monstrous Titan as they closed in on an oblique angle.

'Lator Angor' roared in frustration and lashed out blindly with its tail but the Ceratus-class Knights were too fast and deflected the brunt of the blows off armour pauldrons or Ion gauntlet shields. Behind the cover of the fast moving knights Delphan and Hendrick levelled their weapons and unleashed a tornado of fury, shells, rocket and bolts falling like hail upon the shields of the Titan. First one void shield collapsed then another and another until at last a flat bang and a surge of arching lightning announced their total disintegration, leaving the Titan defenceless.

While all this had been occurring Kayar had been cunningly positioning his steed to close from the flank, running 'Heart of Zeal' into the narrow gap between the Titan and the rubble of the collapsed building. He readied his Thermal Lance to target 'Lator Angors' knee joint knowing that his weapon was the best chance they had to shatter the vulnerable joint, if the knee went the Titan would fall and become helpless to their wrath. As his kin weaved and dodged before it Kaya raised his Thermal lance and took careful aim, his heart beat faster in sympathy with his steed's burning power core and his palms sweated with the knowledge that he had only one chance to get this right but if he could land one clean shot then victory would be theirs.

Kayar took one more step and then the angle was perfect, his Thermal lance went blue as it charged to fire but just as he was about to unleash its power the rubble behind him exploded outwards and from it charged 'Retributions Fist' howling in rabid fury. The Gallant smashed into the back of 'Heart of Zeal' throwing off its aim and searing blast of melta energy carved into the Titan's lurid armour over its thigh, carving a deep gouge but leaving the critical knee joint undamaged, 'Lator Angor' roared in agony as the radiation cauterised its warped flesh but the monstrosity remained standing.

With a savage roar of triumph 'Lator Angor' erupted into life, moving with renewed purpose and speed as its weapons at last fully charged with deadly power. Its heavy tail lashed back and forwards and its weapon arms blazed with light and arcs of energy as they swept back and forth seeking out targets and the closest was Kayar, stumbling as he sought to recover his balance.

'Lator Angor's' wide face stretched into an impossible smile, the metal moving in a disgusting organic fashion as the Warlord picked out its first kill. It raised its arm and the sunfury annihilator blazed with power, the air sang with heat build-up as it targeted the vulnerable knight then in an inferno of blinding light the Plasma weapon pulsed to fire.

A heartbeat before the plasma could be unleashed 'Lifeward' slammed into 'Heart of Zeal' at full pace, there was a terrible screeching and rasping as metal slid against metal but both Knights were thrown to the side just as the Titan fired. A wave of star-hot plasma tore through the spot Kayar had been standing a moment before and punched into the ground, meter upon meter of rockcrete vaporising under the sheer power of the blast as ancient thick reinforced rock simply ceased to exist. In moments a great gash had been torn straight through the street leaving a blackened hole falling away into infinite darkness and the road way collapsed around the hole as the rockcrete crumbled away.

The Knights milled in confusion as 'Lator Angor' stepped forwards, its secondary lascanons stabbing out and scoring their carapaces with deep grooves, Kayar saw the mighty Volcano canon swinging about to target them but before it could come to bear Daeran called, "Fall back, withdraw and disengage!"

"You can't!" yelled Kayar not believing any Knight would every give such a command, "We have to finish this!"

"We cannot stand against such firepower" roared Daeran, "Now obey the damned order!"

As one the Knights split up and broke out in various directions, and seeing the other knights scattering into the streets Kayar had no choice but to follow suit, turning his back on the enemy and racing away as he was chased by blasts from the Titan's secondary weapons. Kayar saw an opening ahead and sprinted down the narrow street between two buildings, praying that it would be too restricted for 'Lator Angor' to follow, he diverted every drop of power to his motive system pushing 'Heart of Zeal' to its maximum tolerances. Kayar's auspex detected the Titan following him to the opening of the street but there it paused and he breathed a sigh of relief at the prospect of escape, but his reprieve was short lived as he detected the pulse of a targeting sweep.

An icy chill ran down his spine as he realised 'Lator Angor' didn't need to follow him; it could simply fire down the street and annihilate him from where it stood, a power surge overwhelmed his auspex and Kayar fully expected to die but it wasn't an energy blast that followed him. His auspex filled with contacts as a massive barrage of missiles flew out of the apocalypse launchers on 'Lator Angor' shoulders, hurtling into the buildings either side of him to blow masonry free in a forest of concussive blasts. The thick missiles tore through the flimsy surface of the buildings either side of the street and penetrated deep within before denoting, a series of explosions lit up the edifices from within and in a flash of destruction the internal structural supports were obliterated.

With a rumble that heralded doom the levels hit imploded leaving nothing to support the floors above, these fell into the suddenly open void to crush the levels beneath them and the ones beneath those. In a cataclysmic chain reaction the buildings collapsed like a concertina, level after level disappearing into the darkness beneath as the mighty structures sank into the depths like sinking ships. Kayar was lost in a cloud of dust and debris, unable to anything but keep putting one foot in front of the other, the street quivered and swayed and he realised in horror that the without the buildings the street had nothing to support it.

Throwing caution to the wind he galloped 'Heart of Zeal' into the murk, knowing each step of the pile driver feet only increased his risk of stepping out into empty space to send him tumbling to his death. All was dust and darkness, sheer terror gripping his soul as he realised a single misstep or weak section of road could spell his doom, he had no control over the situation and no more power in that moment than the most insignificant Guardsman. Kayar stumbled along feeling rockcrete sheering away under his steed's feet with every step, 'Heart of Zeal' lurched drunkenly from side to side and Kayar fought for balance as he gritted his teeth, then suddenly and totally unexpectedly he burst out into the clear air.

Kayar paused his steed for a moment as he turned to look back across the now gaping void to where 'Lator Angor' stood, the Titan somehow looked disappointed to his survival and Kayar wanted to shout some defiant cry at his tormentor but his mind was blank and he could not think of anything to say. Then his sensorium flashed warnings that the Titan was sweeping over him with its targeting arrays, before it could bring its weapons to bear once more Kayar turned 'Heart of Zeal' about and trotted into the maze of the city searching for the rest of the Knights who had disappeared.


	5. Chapter 5

**Broken Giants: Chapter 5**

Kayar raced along the streets and roads of the city pushing his steed to the maximum, he tried to keep the maze of buildings between him and his pursuer and took corners as fast as he possibly dared, risking toppling his knight so rapid were his turns. He kept one eye on his auspex which told him two things, first that he was closing on the rest of the Knights ahead and secondly that 'Lator Angor' was right behind him. A spike on his auspex warned him of incoming ordnance and he fought the urge to duck as an Apocalypse missile flew over his head, smashing into a hab building so near to him that it sprayed masonry off his chassis, the Titan may not have direct line of sight but its own auspex could certain track him and it was not letting him go.

He gritted his teeth and urged 'Heart of Zeal' forwards once more, his sheer terror communicating through the communion with his steed to lend it greater speed than he thought possible. For once the ghosts in the Throne Mechanicum were not admonishing him, for all his ancestors were united in agreement and as one they urged him to run, run and not look back. The noble took a another turn and practically ran into the rest of the Knights, Hendrick cried out, "Kayar!" in relief that his young ward lived, Kayar in return called, "Don't stop, its right behind me!"

"How are we supposed to escape from something like that?" called Howle with fear edging his voice. Daeran shouted in return as he raced past, "By talking less and running more!"

As one the Knights dived in amongst the looming buildings running flat out to try to put as much distance between them and the Titan as possible, turn after random turn came and went as Kayar struggled to keep up with the swifter form of 'Frostfury'. The roads shook beneath their heavy treads and loose debris was shaken off walls by the vibrations but still they could feel the deeper echoes of the Titan as it chased them.

Suddenly the narrow confines of the street fell away as they burst out into an open area, it was a vast industrial shipping yard filled with mega-containers ready for transit into orbit and warehouses easily able to fit a Knight inside. "Quickly, get inside!" roared Daeran racing towards the nearest structure

"No not that one" called Delphan as he headed towards a seemingly identical building further along the yard, "That one's marked out for storing bulk chemicals, there's enough Ferrocrete in those walls to stop an orbital scan!"

"Hells of the Maelstrom!" swore Daeran, "We don't have time for this; get inside before that monster locks on again".

The knights charged through the open door and took up positions in the cloying darkness, they stood there in silence, engines venting steam from overtaxed power cells and listening to the distant roars and heavy thuds as the Titan sought them out. Occasionally powerful auspex sweeps would set their hulls tingling with static but the thick ferrocrete and plasteel of the warehouse hid their signatures, still the Titan paced the district, letting off random blasts from its energy weapons that tore whole building apart as it roared in frustration.

"It's not moving off" said Kayar on a closed encrypted vox, "We can't be showing up on the Auspex so how does it know were still here?"

"He's right" barked Hendrick, "Power down your weapons, your Ion shields, everything!"

Howle barked, "Do what?"

Hendrick said, "It can't find us in amongst the buildings; it must be tracking our machine spirits' energy."

Howle snarled "I don't take orders from low-born scum from an upstart House."

Daeran commanded, "Just do it."

Howle turned in disbelief and said, "You'd listen to a commoner?!"

Delphan stepped forwards raising his battlecannon, "Quiet your steed's spirit or I will do it for you."

Howle snarled in challenge but seeing all his brethren against him his courage withered, he acquiesced and they all powered down their steeds, urging their machine spirits to slumber and the Knights had to open their canopies to talk but there was nothing to say. All they could do was listen to the roars of the Titan and the crashing din every time it took a step, Kayar sweated in his life support suit knowing that if the monster found them they would all be dead before their machine spirits could awaken again. For long minutes the yard shook and debris fell from cracked gantries then as the Knight's implant sockets were growing cold the vibrations lessened and the roars grew more distant. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity waiting to be sure this wasn't a cruel deception but finally they bled a trickle of power to their systems and risked a low level Auspex sweep through the open door.

"I think it's gone" called Kayar not daring the Vox, the echoes of his voice ringing in the empty cavern of the warehouse.

"Thank the Throne for that" said Howle, "We were damned lucky to escape."

"What do you mean?" blurted Kayar insulted by the implication of weakness, "I almost had it, I could have toppled it if Lugarn hadn't blundered into the way."

"You had nothing boy!" growled Lugarn stepping forwards with a heavy stomp of his metal feet, "You would be dead had it not let you get away."

Kayar was incensed and spat, "Let me get away, you arrogant buffoon!"

Everybody gasped at the gross insult, knowing that the Knight's traditions would not let such offence pass and Lugarn barked, "I have been insulted and by the Code Chivalric I demand satisfaction, I will not let a child from an upstart house impugn my honour!"

Kayar's weapons were still deactivated but he saw red at the slur and before he knew what he was doing he lurched 'Heart of Zeal' forwards and rammed the metal skull right into the Gallant's faceplate knocking 'Retribution's Fist' backwards on its feet. Kayar was shocked by own impulsive actions and the other nobles fell back to watch how the belligerent knight would react but everyone was surprised when they realised that Lugarn was laughing, with tears rolling down his cheeks Lugarn boomed, "Ha some spirit at last! I was starting to think you were too soft to be a Knight lad but there's fire in that belly after all."

Kayar wasn't sure what had just happened but Hendrick said, "Is the Code satisfied?"

Lugarn chuckled and said, "By the Code Chivalric I yield, this one is a Knight indeed but you had better explain matters to him."

Hendrick turned about and said, "Kayar you need to understand that monster was tainted by the Dark Prince, it could easily have shot you in the back as you fled but it chose to bring down the buildings around you, it found it more amusing to watch you stumble and dance than seek a clean kill."

Howle declared, "Now that's sorted we can get out of here, we are completely outgunned and cannot risk another encounter."

"So be it" said Daeran "We fall back to Imperial lines and link up with the Guard's forces."

" Do what?!" exclaimed Kayar unable to believe what he was hearing, "That monster will rip through the Guard like gossamer, Abaddon's balls it could smash the entire invasion force single handed, we have to take it down."

"Perhaps you weren't paying attention" hissed Howle, "We just unleashed our entire arsenal and didn't even stun it, going up against it again would be suicide."

"Where is your courage?" Boomed Lugarn, "I always knew House Jacquar lacked spine, do you always flee when you meet a foe you cannot simply step upon?"

Howle hissed, "There is courage and then there is stupidity and I am not so arrogant so to ignore the fact we are totally outmatched here."

Hendrick declared, "This isn't a fight that we can win alone, we need to fall back and link up with the Guard, their Shadowswords will give that monster pause and the Legio Astraman still has two warhounds in theatre, together we can take it."

"You shame your house" spoke Delphan for the first time, "It is not for us to choose which obligations fall to us, the High King tasked us to be the shield of the Imperium here, to flee would be a dereliction of duty."

Hendrick growled, "You know nothing of my duties, for generations my forefathers have guarded the heirs of House Verico and I will be damned if I let this boy die chasing a fools' dream of glory."

Kayar couldn't believe what he was hearing, from birth he had been raised on tales of Knights triumphing over impossible odds, songs of valour had been sung over his crib and his childhood squabbles had been over which particular ancestor had won the greatest laurels. He had been raised on the firm belief that Knights always stood united against whatever the galaxy could throw at them yet here were they were squabbling like under-hive gangers. He realised the encounter with 'Lator Angor' had shaken them badly, for all their heroics it was a rare encounter for them to meet a singular foe who so greatly out-classed them. Titans were figures of jealous awe in the minds of Knights and only the boldest of heroes would dare stand against one, it was then Kayar realised there was still a way to bring the others around to his point of view.

Kayar spoke up to say, "But imagine the glory if we six Knights took down a Chaos Titan ourselves, a genuine world-breaking god engine, a feat that hasn't been seen in a thousand years." Lugarn understood Kayar's appeal and declared, "Such a deed would be immortalised in song and stone for millennia to come, the Nobles who performed such a feat could name their reward."

Everybody fell silent at that, for it was a thought to give pause to any nobleman, above all Knights thirsted for glory in battle it was the driving passion of their lives and the source of prosperity for both themselves and their Houses. Slowly Daeran said, "How many Knights of San Grael can claim to have slain a Titan?"

Lugarn answered, "Less than a score in all of history."

"Their names are engraved over the great feast hall of the High King's keep" murmured Daeran lost in a remembrance of childhood dreams, "Their legacy preserved forever, some even after their entire Households were lost."

Kayar said, "The last one to achieve such a feat was Patriarch Darreal and he was awarded the right to found House Verico in recognition of his deeds."

Howle was getting swept up in the excitement and said, "If I came… that is if we came back with a Titan's head then our Lords would give us mansions and lands of our own to rule over."

"You cannot be contemplating this foolishness" growled Hendrick, born a commoner his position as a Lifeward meant he could win no glory to his own name.

Sadly his appeal fell upon deaf ears for the Knights were entranced by the dream that when they returned to their homeworld they would be covered in glory by their lords and in the favours of the ladies of the court as Lugarn declared, "Death or eternal Glory, is that not the vow we all took when we underwent our Becoming?"

Hendrick knew he had lost the argument but nevertheless protested, "There's still the little matter of actually having to take down a corrupted Warlord Titan." Then Daeran said something that made Kayar's stomach plunge and wish he had kept his mouth shut, "Don't worry, I've got a plan."

Kayar realised he had just goaded them all into a fight led by a man he had no respect for and it stuck him that he may have just made the biggest mistake of his short life.


	6. Chapter 6

**Broken Giants: Chapter 6**

In the dark and musty confines of a building 'Heart of Zeal' lurked, it was idling in slumber as the Knight waited for battle and it looked out over a street that connected to a ruined plaza just waiting to spring a trap. Though outwardly his Knight could be nothing but stoic in its heart young Kayar sat sweating in his body suit, his guts churned and he felt the hot flush of shame creeping up his neck, he could not shake the feeling he had made a terrible mistake and was dreading the thought of what might happen next. Kayar kept going over the conversation in his mind and each time he felt a hot rush of shame steal up over him, creeping round his neck into the base of his skull, he was trying to convince himself that he had made the right choice and when that failed he tried to think of reasons it wasn't his fault. Yet there was no denying it, he had argued fiercely for this folly, he had convinced the others to return to the fight and worst of all he had put all their fates into the hands of a man he had no respect for.

His throne Mechanicum was in conflict, the echoes of his ancestors flashing images into his mind of glorious triumphs over impossible odds, the stuff of legends wrought from the harsh cruelty of the galaxy. Regrettably for every glorious memory there was another of battles fought in the shadows of Titans, both for and against and in each the sheer scale of the devastation was breathe taking, for every time Knights had opposed a Titan and won there were a dozen instances of them being utterly wiped out. Kayar checked his vox link to Hendrick was secure and admitted, "This was a mistake."

Hendrick was hiding his Knight Warden nearby and seemed to understand his ward's thoughts, he tried to reassure the youth by saying, "This plan could work: Sir Howle will draw the Titan's attention and lure it into position, then we three will manoeuvre to keep its attention on this plaza. Once it comes into the street it will be boxed in, unable to use that tail to full effect, once it's trapped Sir Daeran and Sir Lugarn will burst out of hiding and take it in close combat, with surprise on our side this time the battle will favour us."

"I am not sure" replied Kayar, "My father once told me any plan that relies upon the enemy reacting as you want is doomed to fail."

Hendrick said sagely, "Is that what is really bothering you, or is it simply the fact that it was sir Daeran who came up the plan?"

The question came uncomfortably close to the truth and Kayar was determined not to think about that so instead he said, "Can we really rely upon Howle to draw it out in the first place?"

"I wouldn't worry about that" snorted Hendrick, "If there's one thing I can trust Sir Howle to do its run away."

"If you two are quite finished" interrupted Daeran overriding over their closed Vox, "Perhaps you could pay attention to the auspex and see the target is closing fast."

Kayar gritted his teeth at Daeran's tone but could see that he was right; suppressing his annoyance he bled power to his motive systems and readied his weapons for the coming conflict. Suddenly 'Stygian Blaze' came tearing round the corner and charged right up the street, straight past the hiding places of 'Frostfury' and 'Retributions Fist'.

"Get ready" yelled Howle "It's right on my tail!"

'Heart of Zeal', 'Lifeward' and 'Unyielding Honour' moved out, stepping over burnt out ground transports and decaying corpses to form a solid line across the end of the road where it entered the plaza, they took formation so their Ion shields overlapped and raised their weapons ready to unleash destruction. They couldn't possibly stop the Titan but they didn't need to, every one of them knew their lives were forfeit to the plan, but if Lugarn and Daeran could bring it down their sacrifice would be worthwhile.

Long minutes passed as they waited but the Titan didn't emerge yet their auspexs still pinged proximity alerts which made no sense at all and Kayar fretted before asking "Where is it?"

"Steady good Sirs, do not let yourselves be distracted" said Delphan but his tone conveyed his own worry.

Barely had the words left his mouth when the building behind them exploded outwards, not from weapon fire or explosions but smashed apart from the inside out as 'Lator Angor' stepped through it like a man through a cobweb. Metal and stone parted before its inexorable advance, smashing solid engineering to splinters with sheer brute force and unstoppable inertia. This should not have been possible, a Titan was literally a giant of metal, no adept in the galaxy would have believed that one could perform a stealth flanking manoeuvre and yet here it was. The knights scattered at its feet in shock as debris showered down upon their hulls and the ground quivered beneath them with the violence of the demolition, they were left lurching like drunks as their gyros fought for control. Kayar staggered back, battling to keep his steed's feet under him as his auspex blared alarms and his sensorium swirled in a nauseating kaleidoscope of movement and static.

'Lator Angor' saw them scattering and roared in perverted joy as it fired its Apocalypse launchers in a wide spread around the plaza, building facades exploded outwards offering no more resistance to the missiles than mist and rubble fell like rain as thick cloying dust filled the air. Apartments and tenements collapsed, tipping the contents of people's lives into the dirt and one missile blew straight through a garage exposing a void into the under city below.

Further away 'Frostfury' and 'Retributions Fist' exploded out of their hiding places and raced to engage but they were too distant to make a difference in this fight. 'Lator Angor' had a plethora of targets and plenty of time to bring its main weapons to bear. Energy was bled off from its reactor into the Sunfury plasma annihilator and the weapon began to shake. blazing painfully bright as the magnetic bottle struggled to cage the power of a star, all the Titan had to do was chose a target: it chose 'Unyielding Honour'.

With a roaring crescendo of fury the plasma annihilator fired; a series of star-hot bolts hammering through the air, creating burning compression shock waves that threw aside debris and reduced decaying corpses into charred ash. 'Unyielding Honours' Ion shield actually held the first blast back and the next but the one after that and next battered through and covered the Knight in a blazing inferno of destruction.

The plasma engulfed the Crusader and armour melted away as metal ran like water, swiftly the plasma burned its way through the Knight's structure and Delphan's screams were terrible to behold as he roasted alive within his own cockpit. 'Unyielding Honour' began to sag as its legs liquefied beneath it and the whole machine lost its form like a wax candle placed in a hot oven, a metal giant that had once filled men with awe was reduced to slag and yet Delphan was still screaming. The last plasma bolt strayed low and hit the ground at the melting Knights' feet, burning through ferrocrete to reveal an endless dark beneath the road that fell away into infinity. The molten slag pile that was once a proud Knight dropped through the weakened road into the dark and Delphan's screams carryied over the vox long after his Knight was lost from view as it plummeted into the inky blackness.

The remaining Knights stood dumbfounded, Delphan had been staunch and resolute, it didn't seem possible that he was dead but the Titan had swatted him as a man would an insect, it was a moment of pure shock and that was all 'Lator Angor' needed to bring its other weapon to bear. Shaken out of his daze Kayar looked up and found himself staring straight into the barrel of a Volcano cannon, though he knew it to be impossible Kayar believed he could see the light surging up the barrel of the canon as it built up an inferno of incandescent power. From afar he heard Hendrick desperately calling out his name but the Lifeward was out of position to intervene this time. With only a heartbeat left to live Kayar acted; disregarding every doctrine and precept the House Sacristans had taught to him, he disengaged every safety buffer and coupled his Ion shield directly to his power core: then the world turned white.

A searing blast of energy fell upon 'Heart of Zeal', a tidal wave of heat and power enveloping the lone Knight and scorching its shadow into the ground. Kayar roared in agony as he felt the torrent of power engulf him, barely kept at bay by the gossamer thin barrier of his Ion shield. Neural feedback ripped through his nerve endings etching his Knights' agony into his flesh and he heard the ghosts of his ancestors screaming in phantom pain. The energy inundated him as if he was standing under a waterfall, numbing his senses cold while fire burned him from the inside out.

In defiance of all accepted physical laws the Ion shield was actually being pushed backwards under the strain, shrinking and closing around his hull like a second skin. 'Heart of Zeal's' armour blazed so hot that the proud heraldry evaporated and the world outside dissolved as Kayar's auspex liquefied in the inferno. Kayar writhed in agony and the only reading he could make out clearly was his power indicator, he gasped as it plummeted in a desperate attempt to sustain his Ion shield. In seconds it fell from ninety two percent to sixty four percent, then thirty perc… nineteen percent all in the time it took to draw in a breath. When the power reading fell to twelve percent the torrent of destruction finally ceased and the world went dark.

Kayar breathed scorching air in his cockpit, stunned by his own survival, then he desperately hammered his fist on the sensorium trying to shock it back into life. He was rewarded by a burst of grainy static forming before it cleared to reveal the towering form of 'Lator Angor' looming overhead, Kayar gazed at the Daemonic face and he could have sworn it looked just as stunned by his survival as he was. The two figures stood there for a heartbeat trying to grasp the situation then 'Lator Angor' let out a monstrous roar of disturbingly organic pain and lurched to the side. As the legs moved Kayar could see the form of 'Frostfury' standing behind the Titan, its Shocklance dripping oily blood and lumps of fleshmetal it had torn from 'Lator Angors' calf, the Vox fizzled and Daeran shouted, "Thrones sake, get out of there boy, get out!"

"This way, follow me" came the voice of Howle as he charged 'Stygian Blaze' into the wreckage of the collapsed garage. Kayar ran after him and saw that instead of ending in a pile of debris the garage must have been connected to an under-hive roadway for the far end opened up to a path that stretched away into the darkness.

Kayar raced for the opening closely followed by 'Lifeward' and he yelled "There's no guarantee that leads anywhere!"

"Anywhere's better than here!" shouted Hendrick, unceremonially shoving the young Knight forwards with his Thunderstrike gauntlet.

As a fresh targeting sweep swept over the retreating Knights Kayar realised the truth of those words and galloped 'Heart of Zeal' forwards, diving headlong into the darkness of the under city as he wondered how everything had gone so wrong.


	7. Chapter 7

**Broken Giants: Chapter 7**

The Capital city of Almanium was a proto-Hive, formed of soaring building linked by bridges skyways and plazas; it was the first reachings towards the heavens that would one day become a towering mega-structure. Much of the upper levels were designed to disguise that fact, to allow the ruling elite to forget that they stood upon the shoulders of their fellow men and most of them would be surprised to be reminded that there was bustling life far below their feet.

Far below the top levels there were a network of roads and transit ways designed for moving cargos and bulk haulage, the paths twisted and meandered around older buildings or in some case straight through them. It was not just roads either for there were factories and warehouses, transit hubs and slaughterhouses, all suspended far above the ground in that midnight world. It was a tangled knot of openings and blind turns that resembled the interior of an ant's nest and moving along those paths were five Imperial Knights, with stab lights illuminating the darkness they proceeded slowly in a line each one of them quietly reflecting upon their defeat and losses as they moved into an manufacturing cavern filled with cranes and hanging gantries.

In 'Heart of Zeal' Kayar was glumly looking ahead via his sensorium, the loss of his auspex cutting his awareness down to a narrow aperture that he had to sweep back and forth to see where he was going. This was not helped by the repeated flashing in his field of vision from his power core reading, a red blaze that constantly reminded him his steed was running at mere eleven percent, if he did not find a way to recharge soon his war machine would grind to a halt. To conserve power he had shut down his Ion shield and Reaper blade but thankfully his Thermal canon, stubber and Icarus autocanons worked on chemical or projectile principles so he was not completely defenceless.

As he walked he was replaying the last few hours over and over in his mind and he felt a terrible sense of shame at what had occurred, his guts were churning and there was a hot, tight tingle in the back of his skull. He couldn't avoid the fact that he had driven the Knights into a terrible mistake and he was trying to rationalise why it wasn't really his fault but every time he tried the memory of Delphan's screams would intrude into his thoughts and he would relive it all over again.

His self-recriminations were interrupted as Hendrick came over the vox saying, "You are awfully quiet boy, tell me what you are thinking."

Kayar said with a quiver in his voice, "Delphan, how could he be just gone like that?"

Hendrick sighed and said, "Ah, yes this is the first time you've seen a Knight die, it's always a shock to realise we are not invincible after all."

Kayar said, "I knew it happened on occasions, I thought I was prepared…"

Hendrick said, "But knowing it in theory is quite different to actually experiencing it, in truth there's nothing that can prepare you for it."

Kayar moaned, "It's all my fault."

Hendrick replied, "No don't blame yourself, you weren't in command and it ultimately it wasn't your decision."

Kayar paused and said, "So it's Daeran's fault."

Hendrick sounded exasperated as he said, "That is a child's response, when you grow up you will realise that sometimes everything turns to Grox dung and it's nobody's fault, placing blame is a waste of time and all you can do is move forwards."

Kayar was confused and said, "What does that mean?"

Hendrick said, "Let me tell you something my father told me when I was young: In life the important thing is not to avoid making mistakes but rather to learn from them. We got overconfident, reckless and sloppy, far more dangerous things to a Knight than any enemy could ever be."

Kayar thought he followed that reasoning and said, "So how do we learn from that?"

Hendrick said, "We did not act as a proper team because we do not understand or respect one another, consider your companions: each with their own strengths and flaws that perfectly match their steeds. Sir Lugarn is belligerent and aggressive which makes him the perfect Gallant pilot but he needs direction to be effective and Sir Howle is contemptuous and merciless like his Acheron but without heavy ranged weapons he needs to be supported in the face of superior might."

Kayar asked, "And Daeran?"

Hendrick said, "Sir Daeran is a Lancer, proud and imperious, swift and decisive but he has a tendency to act without forethought, he has led us into disaster and knows it. If you feel bad imagine how he feels."

That thought rocked Kayar back; for he had not considered for a second how Daeran might be reacting in fact, he had never considered the other Knight as anything but an arrogant blowhard. The youth had never thought that Daeran might have goals and worries all his own, that the pressure of leadership might be wearing on him. In a rare moment of clarity Kayar saw that his own actions had not been helpful, in fact he had been downright rude, insolent and snide ever since he had met his superior. Kayar swallowed as his own problems paled into insignificance and he said, "I should say something, shouldn't I?" Hendrick replied, "Yes, you should start by thanking Sir Daeran for saving your life."

Kayar was grimaced as he realised he had not even given Daeran his due for his actions, a terrible lapse of the Code Chivalric which bound Knights in bonds of brotherhood and mutual respect, he was about to spur his steed forward when he paused and said, "Hendrick… have I thanked you for saving my life?"

"Twice" Hendrick replied, "I have saved your life twice and no you have not… but you recognised that fact which is a good sign, maybe there is hope for you yet. Now hurry up or you will miss your opportunity."

Kayar bled a trickle more energy to his steed's motive systems, keeping a careful eye upon the power readout lest he tax what little reserve he had left. He drew closer to 'Frostfury' and pulsed a request for a private vox, to his surprise Daeran responded snapping, "What is it?" Kayar bit back his first instinct to take umbrage and reminded himself that Daeran was just as hurt as he was so said, "Good Sir, I come to offer thanks for coming to my aid, your swift actions saved my life."

Daeran sounded surprised as he said, "It was nothing, I would have done the same for any Knight."

Kayar replied, "Nevertheless I am in your debt."

Daeran replied sadly, "On any other day I would take that as high praise but not today, I have led us into inglorious defeat and cost the life of a good Knight."

Kayar was struck by how similar the words were to his own thoughts and replied, "You cannot be held accountable for the actions of the enemy, your plan was sound but the foe was canny indeed."

Daeran didn't sound consoled as he said, "I will be held accountable, how can I explain this to my uncle?"

Kayar tried to think an uplifting response and settled upon something his father was fond of saying, "Some days you get the Tuskgor, other days the Tuskgor gets you."

Daeran actually let out a snort of laughter and said, "That sound like something my uncle would say."

Kayar replied, "Your uncle?"

Daeran confessed, "The High King."

"Ah" said Kayar as he was suddenly struck by a very nasty suspicion as to how Daeran had gained this command but he swallowed his next remark before he said anything, Daeran was an experienced Knight and surely would have earned the right to lead, even nepotism had its limits. Kayar tried to think of something else to say and said, "Tell me of him, tell me of House Pardus and the High King's seat."

Daeran drew in a breath and said wistfully, "House Pardus is the greatest House of San Grael and has been since the dark days before the coming of the Imperium, when other Houses were falling to the perils of Mega-Predators and disrepair we could still call upon our steeds to march forth. Unlike most Houses we do not command a mere tropical rift valley but a wide fertile basin surrounded by sheltering mountains and the High King's keep can be seen everywhere within their bounds, it soars so tall that when one stands upon the battlements you can see all the way out to the icy glaciers that cover the rest of San Grael. Ah you should see the proud banners flying high and the great jousting fields that stretch for miles, rare are the days when Knights are not training for war, the commoners gasp to see them gallop past, while the High King sits over all with the sign of the Emperor upon his brow. Nobles from all seven Houses of San Grael travel the icy wastes to bow before him as he grants the Mechanicus' gifts of new Knight Engines to those he deems have won the most glory… of course he expects his own House to excel above all others."

Kayar understood that last part all too well and said, "My grandfather is Patriarch of House Verico, I know what it is like to be expected to excel at everything."

Daeran confessed, "Yes all I ever hear is how Knights must be the greatest men of all and must never show weakness before vulgar peasant folk… like Imperial Guard generals."

Kayar was surprised to find how much he had in common with a man he thought he hated and grasped that he had never taken the time to really know his fellow Knight as he said, "My grandfather often says the same thing and yet sometimes I remember my mother's advice: Great men are the ones who are not afraid to admit when they need help."

Daeran was silent for a long moment as he mulled on over that thought and then slowly he said, "There are still a dozen Guard regiments out there with super-heavy weapons and a pair of Warhounds… together we could still turn this around."

Kayar heard a spark of defiance at last and said, "So that's the plan, link up with the Guard and show that monster what a united Imperial army can do?"

Daeran sounded more confident now as he said, "First we have to find a way out of this maze back into the light, then we show the enemy our wrath."

Kayar smiled and said, "Lead on then but not too fast, my power core is running on embers and I would hate to have to abandon my steed and ride on your carapace."

Daeran chuckled at that and led them onwards further into the dark led by the light of hope but little did any of them realise that above their heads cruel eyes were following them, as the sound of Knight's footsteps faded away and utter blackness returned the roof began to move. A wave of heaving ceramite followed the Imperials into the depths, clinging to the ceiling and swinging from gantries Transhuman warriors revealed themselves and began gathering in numbers as they stalked after the departing nobles.

The Night Lords had their scent and the hunt had begun.


	8. Chapter 8

**Broken Giants: Chapter 8**

In the depths of the under city there was utter darkness, the failure of the power plants leaving only gloomy black like spilled ink that covered everything. This illusion of a midnight world was shattered by the searing beam of a stab light, shooting forwards out of nowhere to illuminate a manufacturing plant filled with cranes and bulky machinery. The light came from an immense war machine that stomped forwards on wide metal feet that rang off the ferrocrete floor to send forth repeated echoes everywhere, the light moved forwards and the in reflections could be made out the graceful sweeping lines of 'Frostfury'. The Lancer moved out into the blackness to make room for its fellows and it was swiftly joined by four more walkers each shining their own light out to create a web of illumination.

Sitting in 'Heart of Zeals' cockpit Kayar was sweeping his sensorium back and forth as he looked to see where he was going, the loss of his auspex was troubling him for he had never realised how dependent a Knight was upon it. They had been wandering the endless dark roads for an eternity and there was no sign that they were any closer to finding a way out into the light, for all they knew they could in fact be moving deeper into the city. Kayar followed 'Frostfury' into the manufacturing plant with his Thermal canon raised but he was acutely aware that his power core was at a mere ten percent, unless he recharged within the day his steed would grind to a halt. The Knights spread out and swept the plant, the high roof leaving plenty of space for even their mighty war machines and as they looked for an exit Howle voxed, "Does anyone know how much further it is to the surface?"

Hendrick replied, "We've been travelling in a straight line and headed downwards the whole time, it can't be much further."

Howle retorted, "And what do we do when we get there?"

Daeran said, "We find the Guard and link our forces, there yet a war to win."

Lugarn declared, "They had better be ready to fight, I want another go at that Titan."

Kayar however muttered, "I only hope their engineseers know how to bless a power core."

The Knights continued their sweep and yet Hendrick paused as his auspex pinged, he said, "Did anyone pick that up?" Everybody replied in the negative but Hendrick frowned in the cockpit of 'Lifeward' as his auspex fizzled with an indeterminate signal, he swept his stablight back and forth but found nothing on the floor, then slowly he raised the illumination to point upwards and gasped: the ceiling was swarming with ceramite bodies.

The vox screamed as multiple voices broke into the frequency and called, "We have come for you!" then it was raining Night Lords.

From the gantries fell a tide of midnight clad bodies etched in lightning, they carried armour piercing weapons and Melta bombs in clawed hands and they pounced upon the unwary Knights like wolves on a Grox. The Knights flailed and shook as Transhuman forms beset them but the Astartes were too nimble and dodged clumsy blows by Reaper blades, unable to swat the enemy with their heavy weapons they resorted to their stubbers to sweep the foe but the bullets merely bounced off thick Ceramite armour.

Lugarn failed about with his heavy weapons but failed to hit anything, in frustration he resorted to his great metal feet, stomping left and right in an attempt to crush the foe, the Night Lords reacted by falling back from each stamp but whenever he turned his back they would swoop in from another direction and blast at his rear. Meanwhile Daeran was trusting to his speed, racing back and forth along the floor to prevent the foe drawing a bead on him, the Night Lord hurled Krak grenades after him but they exploded in his wake and left a cloud of shrapnel behind him. Howle was unleashing blasts from his flamestorm canon, creating wide swathes of burning destruction as a moat but the Night Lords fell back and unleashed their havocs, waves of missile soared through the flames to impact on his Ion shield and surround him with crackling lighting.

Kayar was sweeping back and forth with his sensorium, struggling to see what was going on without his auspex, he was shocked when a Night Lord fell right on his carapace and flexed his knees as he hit. The Traitor rode the bucking Knight easily, bracing his feet either side of the cockpit hatch and lowering a melta gun right at the centre, Kayar gasped knowing the heretic was targeting the weakest part of his armour. From afar Hendrick saw the trouble his ward was in, instantly he swivelled his Ironstorm missile pod around and sent a rocket soaring over the battle, with such a weapon pinpoint accuracy was impossible but it exploded right of the scorched carapace of 'Heart of Zeal'. The Knight Errant was sprayed with shrapnel that bounced off the hull but the force of it still knocked the Night Lord loose just as his finger was tightening on the trigger and the blast went harmlessly off into the air.

Kayar looked about in desperation and all he saw were desperately embattled Knights, each fighting their own battle in an attempt to fend of the Traitors, yet the Night Lords would not be denied. They had millennia of experience at fighting larger foes and the Knights were hardly less of a threat than the Daemons they were accustomed to fighting.

Even as Kayar watched a Traitor leapt at 'Frostfury' as it charged past and slapped a melta bomb onto its calf, the Lancer bucked and kicked backwards but could not shake the explosive loose and it detonated to blow piston and gears apart. 'Frostfury's' speed dropped significantly and it lurched along with a limp as the Night Lords closed in for the kill, Kayar saw the danger his fellow was in and realised he did not want to see the other Knight fall, the only thought in his head was to save his comrade and he twisted his Thermal canon about to unleash a blast in Daeran's wake. The intensity of the fusion energy forced the Night Lords to fall back, retreating from the searing carnage lest their ceramite armour be ripped asunder but the deed cost him precious power and his core's charge fell to nine percent.

Daeran called, "My thanks Sir Kayar!" as he limped clear

Kayar responded by shouting, "We can't take them alone, we have to work together!" Daeran saw the truth in those words and called, "He's right we need to adopt Ursal formation, Howle, Kayar you will be the beaters, Hendrick and Lugarn with me, we are the hunters!"

Instantly the knights reformed, moving into two separate groups that spilt up and moved to opposite ends of the manufactory, the Night Lords continued firing upwards and dropping from the rafters but despite scoring deep wounds upon their armour the knights could not be stopped. Kayar and Howle reached the far wall and spun about bringing their weapons to bear and unleashed a salvo that drove the Night Lords back a pace, they held the line for a moment until Daeran called, "Were in position, start your run!"

Instantly Howle and Kayar adjusted their aim and unleashed a wide swathe of destruction, aiming not at the Night Lords but at the ground before them. Fire and Melta blasts erupted at the Traitor's feet and even power armoured Transhumans could not survive the conflagration; they were forced to fall back even as they fired their weapons once more. The two Knights took a great stomp forwards and fired again, forcing the Night Lords back once more and then again driving them like beaters scaring herd beasts. The Astartes were no fools and saw the intent of the action, they tried to break out from the killing flames but Kayar got there first and with a series of Melta blasts he drove the Chaos Marines back, liquefying several of them in the process. The Night Lords were forced to retreat back into the sweep of the flames and then walk backwards lest they be eradicated; the Knights pursued them step by step forcing them back with great blasts of heat and fire.

Kayar's sensorium spied several Night Lords still clinging to the gantries, manoeuvring Lascanons downwards to target Howle, he swung instantly swung his Icarus guns upwards and unleashed a long burst. Without an auspex he was forced to target manually but compensated by firing long streams of armour piercing shells that ripped up the gantries all around and blew ceramite clad bodies into fragments, the Night Lords fell but the deed cost him yet more power and his charge fell to eight percent.

Inexorably the pair of Knights swept the Night Lords before them, clearing the floor of enemies and driving them back towards the far wall, where three more knights were waiting. 'Frostfury', 'Lifeward' and 'Retribution's Fist' were in position and had guns raised, the honour of the first shot went to Hendrick as he unleashed the power of his Avenger Bolt Canon. The barrel blurred as it spun up to full speed and then erupted in a tongue of fire that spat shells at a ferocious rate, the first Space Marine hit disintegrated into a cloud of bloody mist and a handful around him were torn into gory pieces as the shells ripped through their armour like wet parchment. Hendrick leaned 'Lifeward' forwards and snarled angrily as he poured on the fire, panning the barrel left and right and unleashing a torrent of shells into the densely packed Night Lords. Transhuman bodies fell before him and the still the blaze of destruction came on and on, nothing could stand before him and he eradicated everything he saw.

A few Night Lords tried to break out, racing out of the edges but 'Frostfury' caught them with plasma blasts and 'Retributions Fist' raced to stomp on them, crushing them to paste. The destruction was absolute and the carnage in the manufactory was total, in a few seconds the knight had turned the entire battle around leaving no survivors at all.

Finally the last Night Lord fell and the Knights ceased fire, everywhere was destruction and devastation creating a scene of hell, the Knights themselves were scarred and battered but they had survived. Inside 'Heart of Zeal' Kayar was panting for breath, the neural feedback from his steed making his heart race and his lungs heave in sympathy for the feats his engine had performed, the interior was baking hot and the air felt like all the oxygen had been exhausted but he was alive and so were his fellows.

Kayar looked into his sensorium and saw each Knight engine was scarred and equally weary, they steamed as their power cores cooled down and 'Frostfury' was walking with a definite limp. Kayar checked his own power core and grimaced when he saw it had fallen to seven percent, flashing alerts declared his steed was crying out for recharge and he knew did not have long left.

His attention was dragged back to the outside world as he heard Daeran saying, "These won't be the only ones, we must not linger."

Howle agreed, "We had better get moving fast then."

Daeran ordered, "Form up and follow me, we won't stop until we reach the guard's lines."

The knight followed him onwards, leaving the devastation behind and Kayar was last in line, he marched forwards wondering all the while whether he was going to make it or be left behind in this midnight world, trapped in a powerless steed until more Transhuman monsters found him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Broken Giants: Chapter 9**

Amid the ruins and devastated city there was a lake of fire, a testament to war and a monument to destruction forged with the blood of an Imperial army. Men and machines had fought valiantly, they had fought bravely and well but it had all been futile for they had faced a foe beyond their understanding, one single foe that had reduced five thousand men to ash in moments, 'Lator Angor' was on the move and the world quaked before it.

Once the Warlord had been a proud God-Engine of the Legios, once it had had borne a name that had stirred hearts and been celebrated on worlds across a galaxy but no more, those days were gone and now it was only 'Lator Angor'. The Titan was striding into the lower districts seeking targets, its weapons were hot from firing for they were yet blasting away at targets miles distant, sometimes these were knots of soldiers or vehicles but more often it fired simply for the joy of destruction. The visage of the Titan was sickening to behold, metal and flesh warped together in insane ways to create a testament to the power of Chaos but that was nothing compared to the interior. Here the touch of the Warp had created a macabre artwork, the union of man and machine taken to ultimate extreme by a Daemon of Slaanesh. Bodies were stretched and elongated in impossible ways, muscles and tendon wrapping around gears and pistons while heart and organs had been fused into mechanisms and devices in a manner that would drive a mortal insane to gaze upon.

In the cockpit the worst expression of insanity had been wrought, the bodies of the crew fusing together to create a web of flesh that filled the interior, they were now the brain of 'Lator Angor' a mind comprised of their bodies and filled with the loathsome stench of the Daemonic. Yet the worst horror was preserved for the most mighty of all, the Titan's Princeps was still alive and completely sane, here the Daemon had crafted a piece of sardonic art for the man's body was fused into the pulsating web of flesh but his head and brain were intact and uncorrupted. The man had thought he was embracing eternal glory when he sold out his species to the Ruinous Powers but had received only scorn. Now he was forevermore a powerless witness to the deeds of the Titan, fully aware of all that transpired as he wept and pleaded for death.

The Daemon thoroughly enjoyed having its own private audience, the wailing and weeping from its constant companion sustained it through the bleak patches of boredom when its physical body was being transported between stars or locked in stasis. This Neverborn was a creation of the Prince of Excess and it was woven from the tears of a billion widows on ten thousand worlds, grief and lament were the very air it breathed, it did not just want to cause suffering... it needed to. 'Lator Angor' moved among the hab-blocks and homes of the downtrodden workers, impishly snapping off frontages and staving in apartments with its armoured shoulders and as it did so it felt minor weapon impacts on its void shields from nearby roof tops. This was less than an irritation and the Titan turned its secondary weapons upon the buildings, strafing the offending gnats with lascanon fire, it pressed on aggressively looking for real opponents and the Daemon laughed to itself over the weeping from its human companion, the misery and woe just never seemed to run out with this one.

'Lator Angor' pressed on eagerly, seeking out the sounds of battle and when it detected the crump of artillery from nearby it changed course to intercept, swiftly it closed and found itself approaching a smelter's yard crowned by dozens of cooling towers that soared over even its head. Poised just on the periphery was an artillery park filled with scores of Earthshakers and running men dragging shells to and fro, the Daemon grimaced for the range was so great that the Guardsmen had not even seen it yet. 'Lator Angor' could easily destroy them at this range, but where would the fun be in that?

Slowly the 'Lator Angor' stepped forwards right towards the artillery and it smiled as it sensed the men's panic when they spied the Titan approaching, this turned to laughter when the human in its head began screaming at the distant men to run, run for their lives. The Daemon's was thoroughly enjoying this and it chortled when it saw the long barrels dragging about to target the Titan, they actually thought they could fight it. Red burps of fire announced the Earthshaker's ire and the Daemon Titan bellowed in pleasure as the shells hit its void shields, effortlessly shunted aside without harm. 'Lator Angor' pounded forward, letting the men see the futility of their efforts as the Titan strode on unharmed, then when their fear and agitation reached a crescendo it unleashed its Apocalypse launchers. A single missile the size of a ground cab flew upwards and then arced back down to explode over the heads of the artillerymen, petals of fire blossomed over the area sweeping away everything within range, a few men survived the initial blasts but were covered in fire and fell screaming as they thrashed and died.

'Lator Angor' heard the cries resonating in the Warp and drank deeply of the woe it had caused but then it stopped and held still for its auspex was sensing a localised energy surge. It was far too potent and focussed to be a power station, this had all the hallmarks of a Titan's plasma reactor: there was another loyalist Engine in the field. The Daemon smiled in relish, Titans were truly worthy kills and each machine had a stench of warfare that trailed after it in a delightful plume, this would be a fight to savour.

Slowly 'Lator Angor' paced forwards with weapons ready, seeking out the spoor of its rival among the bell shaped cooling towers like a man walking in an open wood. The auspex jittered and danced as the signal seemed to jump from place to place, sometimes disappearing entirely only to remerge elsewhere, the Daemon was confused by this and in frustration it reached into the mind of its companion. This was the other reason it had preserved the Princep's head, his wealth of knowledge and experience lent the Neverborn a cunning edge its feral mind could never otherwise conceive. In the Princep's thoughts the Daemon found an answer, the signal was being broken up and refracted by the mass of the cooling towers, it was probably another Reaver Engine seeking to outflank the Warlord. The Daemon found memories of aggression and brutality associated with Reavers and a warning not to focus too singularly on the front lest attacks came from the rear, also it needed to be careful with loose weapons fire, a single misplaced shot here could bring down a cooling tower and bury even so mighty a war machine.

'Lator Angor' paced forwards with weapons primed and ready, walking among the towers alert for traps but even so it was caught by surprise for as it stepped around a cooling tower a massive blast of energy caught it in the right flank to blow out a void shield. The Warlord snarled in anger and ground its waist about to see an enemy coming right at it, not a Reaver but a Warhound: racing forwards at maximum stride. One arm was a double Turbolaser, still red hot from firing and the other was a Vulkan Megabolter that screamed as it hurled rounds in a blitzkrieg of firepower. 'Lator Angor' felt void shield after void shield collapse as the Warhound raced forwards and the human in its head cried out both in recognition of the threat it represented and as a desperate plea for it to be victorious and end his suffering. The Warhound was fast and aggressive, pounding forwards on splayed feet as its Megabolter fired and the turbolaser charged, it was a textbook ambush that could have come straight out of the training manuals, which was why it failed.

'Lator Angor' had been expecting a trap and had kept its weapons poised on the very point of firing, Daemonic strength keeping the power in check until it was needed. The Warlord ground around and lined up its weapons then the Sunfury Annihilator fired, a barrage of plasma blasts engulfed the Warhound and incinerated its shields in one shot. The Warhound responded with its turbolaser as it bounded forwards and managed to strip the last shield from the corrupted Titan but then the Daemon fired the Volcano canon. The titanic laser weapon hit the Warhound dead on and ripped straight into it and out the other side leaving a gaping hole right in its heart, the blast carried on into ground behind it to blast a gaping cavern into the dirt that collapsed as it exposed an underground road. The Warhound teetered on one foot as if disbelieving it was dead but then it slowly toppled backwards and hit the ground in an almighty crash. In the cockpit of 'Lator Angor' the man was weeping but the Daemon was exultant, thrilling at the rush of the kill, it stepped forwards to savour the experience.

And that was when the second Warhound attacked.

From behind another cooling tower the Titan charged, this one had red fangs painted over its maw and its weapons were a Plasma Blastgun and one close combat tine, a double forked blade glistening with disruption fields. The Daemon growled as it realised that here was the true reason for the Auspex glitches, the two Warhounds had been disguising their power signatures as one larger machine. Before the Warlord could respond the smaller Titan fired and Plasma engulfed the left side of 'Lator Angor', armour melted away and the structure beneath was scarred deeply. The Daemon roared furiously as its body suffered but this was a God-Engine, a Lord of War and it rode the agony in defiance of its attacker. The Warhound charged forwards at full pace, combat tine glinting in anticipation of the kill, it deserved to win for it had timed its attack perfectly the Warlord's shields were down and its weapons depowered but that did not mean it was defenceless.

As the Warhound closed the Daemon swung about and lashed out with its fleshy tail, swinging the limb right at its attacker's face, the warp touched metal effortlessly bypassing the Void shields and the wrecking ball on the end impacted the cockpit with the force of a pile driver. Armour and reinforced struts crumpled under the impact and the cockpit was smashed into itself, crushing the crew instantly before they even knew they were dead. The Warhound ground to halt and for a long moment it stood still and then hatches opened around its waist as the remaining crew evacuated, 'Lator Angor' ignored them, they were less than nothing and it was already boring of this location. The Warlord left the other Titan behind as a monument to its victory and exited the smelter's yard looking for fresh fights, as its human companion screamed for death the Daemon wondered where those little Imperial Knights had scampered off to, that would be a delicious fight.

Silence fell in the yard as the war moved on to new ground but that did not mean it was deserted, not long after the fight had ended there was movement once more. Down in the deep crater left by the Volcano canon a metal body heaved its way upwards from beneath, exiting the deeps via the opening blasted into the ground. One by one five Knights clambered their way back into the sunlight and stood basking in the warmth, they surveyed the carnage all around before they turned away and marched off, heading towards the nearest Imperial Guard base, determined to return in force and exact vengeance.


	10. Chapter 10

**Broken Giants: Chapter 10**

The Imperial Guard base was bustling with frantic activity; men dashing from place to place as they desperately packed supplies and fuel on waiting Cargo-8's. Wounded soldiers were carried into medical Chimeras in long lines while Sergeant Majors yelled at infantry men to leave personal effects and get ready to evacuate, this was what the Imperial Guard looked like in retreat and the stench of defeat hung over everything.

In the midst of that bedlam stood five metal giants, each nine metres tall and looming over the scene as they cast long shadows over the crowds. Their armour was scored and dented, weapons scorched from firing and their power cores steaming form being overworked. Around their feet gaggles of lay-Enginseers milled to and fro in baffled confusion, they waved blessed wrenches and shouted conflicting theologies at one another as they tried to figure out how to minister to the wounded steeds and assist the nobles within to dismount. Their little synod was brought to a close as a bulky crawler ground into the camp, scattering men before it as it rolled towards the Knights, barely had it jerked to a halt before mobs of ordained Sacristans were jumping off its tracks shooing the Engineseers away from their sacred charges.

They gathered round the Knights and hissed to see the damage wrought upon the armoured chassis, reverently they began applying holy incense and sanctified unguents to the mechanisms and connected their power cores to the Crawler's reactor, all while chanting soothing litanies to appease the Machine Spirits. Once that had been done they remembered the pilots and turned their attention to opening the cockpits and assisting the nobles within to disconnect and dismount, it took several minutes to get them out but once they had their feet on firm ground the nobles gathered together and took stock.

All around them the bustle of the base continued, men dashing about pausing only to gape at the looming Knight engines before being yelled at by Commissars to quit lollygagging and get back to work while Engineseers argued with field medics whether to load the Chimeras with blessed Cogitators or wounded men. On surface it was reassuringly industrious and productive yet there was an air of desperation over everything, the soldier's actions hinting at fear not courage as they frantically tried to get Trojans coupled to the heavier equipment and a constant line of vehicles rumbled out of the base.

Kayar was holding his arms across his chest as he shivered and jumped from foot to foot but it wasn't from being cold, he felt sick to his stomach and weak at the knees, he couldn't believe how soft and fleshy his body was and how short sighted his eyes were without a sensorium enhancing his vision. None of the other nobles looked any better for they were all pale faced and had ragged beards, they looked exhausted by days locked into their Throne Mechanicums and blinked wearily in the harsh sunlight. To Kayar it was strange to see them as men, he had become accustomed to their metal bodies, in his mind's eye when he pictured his companions he saw mighty Knight Engines not grey haired men.

Hendrick stepped forwards puffing hard like he had been for a long run and asked his ward, "Hit you hard has it?"

Kayar was only fifteen years old by the Terran calendar but he felt closer to fifty as he said, "I've never felt so weak, I think something's wrong with me."

Daeran leaned over and said, "It's just withdrawal ague, we all get it after a long deployment, it will pass."

Lugarn declared, "A bottle of cheap rotgut and feisty camp wench usually sorts it out."

Kayar nodded but frowned and said naively, "Wait… aren't you all married to Highborn Ladies?"

That actually produced grins all around and Howle chuckled as he said, "First rule of the Code Chivalric: What happens on campaign stays on campaign."

Hendrick had gone suspiciously red under his beard and was unwilling to look in Kayar's direction, as a commoner he may not be wed to some snooty noblewoman but there were still certain things he didn't want his wife to find out about. To distract everyone he said, "Look sharp, there's some Guard officers headed this way and they don't look pleased."

Everybody turned and saw a pair of figures making a beeline for the Knights, one of them wore the black sash of a Colour-Sergeant and he had a wide jowly face under a thick bushy beard. The other looked dishevelled and tired, in officer's braid that was messed and covered in soot but that wasn't the most shocking thing, the sight that made the Knights start was that this officer was a female.

"Bloody hell" spat Lugarn, "Its fething woman!"

Daeran muttered, "Everybody just shut up, this is no time to cite the Code Chivalric, just treat her like anyone else."

The pair of soldiers stamped up to the Knights and the woman, who had a thin prudish face and short grey hair, spat, "Who's in charge of this circus?"

Kayar had practically zero experience dealing with women and the Code was somewhat patriarchal in attitude but Daeran took it in his stride and replied, "I am Sir Daeran, Magna Preceptor of this Lance and you are?"

The officer replied in a voice made gravely by years of breathing the dust and smoke of battle, "Major Chia Weyan and this is Colour-Sergeant Alero Faron, we need to know how long it's going to take to move those ugly Golems out of here, you are blocking evacuation traffic."

Kayar was incensed at being spoken so, man or woman nobody talked about a Knight's steed like that but Daeran replied calmly, "Our steeds have fought valiantly and need tending to before we return to the fray."

Major Weyan looked incredulous as she replied, "You're going back in, don't you know there a Warlord Titan rampaging out there?!"

Daeran replied, "We are aware of the situation but our Code demands we return to face the enemy, with the help of the Imperial Guard we are certain we can defeat it."

Weyan spat, "The only place the Guard is going is the hell out of here, we are falling back to safety."

Howle spoke up to sneer, "Excuse me MAJOR but is there someone more senior we can talk to, a General or a Colonel with an actual spine?"

Weyan glared at him and said, "You're welcome to speak to their corpses, if you can find them."

Lugarn spat, "They're all dead?"

Weyan nodded grimly and said, "They took our best and brightest right up against that monster and were slaughtered, as far as we can tell I am the highest ranking Guard officer left on the planet and until I receive orders to the contrary I am leading my boys out of here." Hendrick turned to the Colour-Sergeant and said, "You are accepting that decision?"

Colour-Sergeant Faron shrugged and said, "The last orders we received were to withdraw and preserve what units we could until reinforcements can arrive. Astropaths in orbit are already calling for aid, the Legio Astraman and the Space Marines will certainly respond once they hear of this." Hendrick shook his head and said, "Good luck with that, the Titan Legio is stretched thin holding back the Tyranids and the closest Astartes are the Storm Heralds and we all know they are busy rebuilding after their homeworld was invaded last year."

Daeran declared, "He is right, all we can count on are the forces we have right here we have to kill that monster ourselves." Weyan spat on the ground and said, "You are delusional, that Titan ripped through an entire army group and two Warhounds with ease, we are ants compared to that and we have almost nothing that can even slow it down."

Kayar spotted the key word and said, "Almost?"

Faron scowled and grunted, "We have one Shadowsword and one Baneblade left but that will not suffice against a Warlord class God-Engine."

Daeran said, "It's enough for our purposes."

Weyan looked furious at the presumption and snarled, "You are not part of the chain of command, you do not have the right to commandeer our units without my authorisation." Lugarn spoke up to say, "Madam I don't expect you to understand matters of warfare…"

Weyan stopped him with a furious glare and said, "Do you want to know what I did to the last man who talked down to me?" Behind her Colour-Sergeant Faron muttered, "Lieutenant Tormal swears his great-grandchildren will still feel that knee…"

The Knights were taken aback, certainly not used to being talked to in such a manner by anyone but Daeran changed tack and made a desperate plea saying, "We have to try to bring down that Warlord and imagine the glory if we succeed." Both the soldiers scoffed mockingly at that and Weyan said, "You sound like Astartes, banging on about Glory and Laurels, we are the Imperial Guard the way it works is that we do all the actual work and someone else takes all the credit."

Daeran turned to the Colour-Sergeant and said, "Are you going to tolerate this cowardice?" Faron replied impassively, "Being in the Guard may not be as glamourous as being a Knight but we get the job done, our orders were to evacuate back into orbit and then bomb this entire continent to ash, which should deal with the Titan too."

Hendrick said, "If you do that then we lose all the Munitorium Depots, gigatonnes of weapons, tanks and supplies, enough material to support a dozen warfronts, the whole reason we came to this world was to secure that equipment." "They can be replaced" replied Major Weyan but her voice held a quiver of doubt at that thought.

Kayar interjected, "But think of it, those munitions are desperately needed on the Tyranid front, without them the Imperium will loose a dozen worlds." Weyan sounded conflicted now as she replied, "If we go up against that Titan again we will all die." It was Hendrick who said, "This is bigger than just us, millions of your fellow Guardsmen are depending on us to hold the line here, they are counting on us to secure those supplies and if we fail then they all die."

Faron raised an eyebrow and said, "You think we can win this?"

Daeran nodded and said, "We have been discussing it and we came up with a plan to stop that Titan, but we need your help."

Weyan looked at him suspiciously and said, "Let me guess, you want our Super-heavies."

Daeran confessed, "Well yes, but not just that we need some of your specialists to make this work."

Weyan paused and gave it a long moment to think and they could practically see the conflicting duties battling in her head as she frowned, then slowly she said, "My orders are to evacuate as many as I can and I cannot disobey that…. But either way we would need a rearguard to slow the Titan down, what do you have in mind?"

Daeran sighed in relief and said, "We can't take it head on, the Warlord can absorb everything we have without flinching, we need to hit it in a different way… here is the plan."


	11. Chapter 11

**Broken Giants: Chapter 11**

Across the broken rubble and shattered debris of the city war raged as a column of Imperial Guard Leman Russ's ground over piled stonework on wide caterpillar treads, firing constantly as they advanced. Fat barrels spat heavy shells from multiple turrets and stubby Lascannons ejected spears of light upwards at the target, the tanks never stopped moving as they tracked and fired for speed was their only defence now. The attack was fast and disciplined, a mobile wedge of destruction that swept forwards with all the might of a sledgehammer striking an anvil, it was a display of the very best the Imperial Guard could do.

It didn't make any difference.

Standing before the tanks was a monstrous effigy to corrupt gods, an insane artist's creation brought to life and set loose to wreck destruction, it was 'Lator Angor' and it was angry. The Warlord Titan was blasting down at swirling foes around its feet, every shot from its Sunfury Annihilator and Volcano Canon vaporising a tank and yet the Guardsmen kept coming in rolling waves, never stopping and never forming neat lines for the Titan to obliterate with one sweep. 'Lator Angor' blew its horn in a blaring shriek of anger and frustration as it fired its secondary weapons at the ground, twin linked lascanons blasting turrets free and smashing tracks, even the Titan's light weaponry was still deadly and potent.

The Warlord stamped about and roared at the tanks but they continued their charge regardless, no matter how many it destroyed the Guardsmen just kept coming, showing insane bravery in their futile charge. 'Lator Angor' was incensed by being threatened by such insects and it lashed out angrily with its tail, the wrecking ball slamming down on a Leman Russ' turret and crushing it more effectively than any wrecking yard could achieve. Amidst the thundering charge of machines was a larger beast, the lumbering bulk of a Baneblade tank rumbling forwards right at the Titan as its long barrel elevated and tracked the moving edifice. Without pausing the Baneblade fired in a belch of smoke and huge shell flew free to impact right on the Titan's void shields, an electro static bang burst over the area as one of the energy fields collapsed and the head of 'Lator Angor' snapped about to see who had dared strike it.

Las fire snapped out from the Baneblade's turrets to flash off the remaining Voidshields and the turret rose again in defiance, the Titan roared in a furious challenge and turned to face the oncoming tank outraged by the impudence it showed. Before 'Lator Angor' could complete the manoeuvre the Baneblade fired again and another shell burst a second void shield, the Daemonic Titan screamed its rage for all to see as it took a lumbering step towards the tank. As if that were some sort of signal the swirling tanks immediately broke away, scattering from the Titan's feet in all direction like cockroaches fleeing from the light, 'Lator Angor' ignored them all for its attention was fixed entirely upon the Baneblade, filled with a burning desire to destroy this offensive little bug. The Baneblade began to reverse away from the Titan; weapons still blazing as it rolled backwards, the great turret rose once more but before it could fire the Warlord unleashed the Sunfury Annihilator. A sequence of brilliant pulses seared shadows onto the surrounding buildings as the colossal plasma weapon discharged, bringing the power of a star down to earth.

'Lator Angor' had fired in angry haste and its aim was slightly off but still one of the blasts caught the Baneblade, the front of the machine turned deepest red and metal armour ran like water but the Super-Heavy tank was the product of ancient sciences and it endured the inferno despite taking terrible damage. 'Lator Angor's' fury built as it saw the resistance of its prey and it stepped forwards once again, it raised the Volcano canon intending to finish off its wounded victim but before it could fire a new sound interrupted its execution. A clarion call as clear as silver bell rang down the nearest roadway and 'Lator Angor' paused as it recognised the sound, it twisted its head about and saw a sight that would have stirred the heart of any man.

Charging headlong down the broad road were five Imperial Knights, galloping forwards with weapons shining and Ion Shields raised before them, thundering forwards in a single mass like a legend come to life and set loose in the galaxy. In the centre was 'Heart of Zeal' and within young Kayar gripped his Throne Mechanicum as he charged, knowing that they had faced this foe before and lost but his heart was true and his determination unwavering. A mad charge to death and glory against impossible odds was the very stuff Knights lived and breathed for and the ghosts of his ancestors cheered in approval from the depths of the Throne Mechanicum as he galloped into battle.

'Frostfury' still moved with a slight limp but Daeran was calling out on the vox, "Broken Arrow Formation: weave and dodge don't let it lock onto you, sting hard then withdraw!"

Hendrick was besides Kayar calling out, "Hit and run good Sirs, hit AND run!"

Kayar gritted his teeth and began weaving his steed in and around the other Knights creating a dazzling swirl of moving metal and he saw in Sensorium that 'Lator Angor' had forgotten the wounded Baneblade and was turning about to face the coming charge with weapons raised but it was too slow, they would reach it first.

In the few seconds left before they made contact Daeran voxed "Major Weyan, are you still alive?"

A weak voice came back over the vox from the Baneblade, "Barely… but were in no shape for a fight."

Daeran voxed back, "You've done enough; you got it too angry to see sense, disengage now… leave the rest to us."

As the Baneblade rolled away he raised his voice and cried to his fellow Knights, "This is the time, this is the hour of our vengeance! Remember the dead and let the fires of your wrath burn away the filth, for Honour and for Glory: CHARGE!"

As one the Knights roared angrily, "Glory and Honour!" as they leapt into the fray, Reaperblades spinning and Shocklances blazing. All around 'Lator Angor's' feet a frenzy of carnage erupted, Knights racing in and out to carve great chunks from its calf armour with their thundering weapons. Their mistake before had been to treat the foe like an intelligent enemy as if it were somehow rational: it wasn't. This was a beast of war, a predator of the Warp wrought into iron and steel and now their attacks were designed not to defeat it but to goad it into a furious rage.

Kayar was running 'Heart of Zeal' in and out of the fray and as he did so he saw the other Knights rampaging all around him, he didn't know how he could ever have doubted their valour or gallantry for now he saw them as shining lords of old, living legends from the days when men fought on horseback brought to life before him. There was Lugarn riding 'Retribution's Fist' as it ripped and tore with Reaperblade and Thunderstike gauntlet, his zeal magnificent and his courage unmatched by all, what Knight could hope to match his ardour?

There was Howle racing in using the chainfist of 'Stygian Blaze' to rip armour apart while his Flamestorm canon burnt away fleshmetal, his cunning was remarkable for the Titan's tail lashed out at him but he ducked in time to make it miss. Nobody who wasn't a Knight would understand the skill implied by that, a nine metre tall war machine and he managed to make it duck like a fencer.

Greatest of all was Daeran in 'Frostfury' racing in and out to blast and gouge at the Titan's leg with his shocklance, each contact emitting a magnesium flare of light that made the Titan scream. He was the epitome of Knighthood, a man facing a monster yet resolute in the face of overwhelming might and Kayar wished he could be half as bold.

The youth saw an opening and raced in behind 'Lator Angor' and swept his Reaperblade across the Fleshmetal thigh, he was rewarded with a shriek of unholy pain as black oil-blood flowed to stain the ground. He exulted at the strike and raised his blade high with blood still upon it but his moment of distraction was almost his downfall, as he celebrated 'Lator Angor' swept its tail about and went straight for him. Kayar saw the wrecking ball coming but just before it hit him a looming shape stepped in the way, it was Hendrick in 'Lifeward' and he was raising his Thunderstrike gauntlet to gouge a great slab of fleshmetal from the appendage. The tail jerked off course and merely caught 'Heart of Zeal' a glancing blow that dented the carapace and made Kayar's head ring, 'Lifeward' shoved him forwards as Hendrick yelled, "Hit and run, boy! Hit AND run… what part of that did you not understand?"

Kayar urged his steed to gallop as the Titan growled in anger, it was actually being hurt by these diminutive curs and it decided enough was enough; it lowered its weapons and fired the Volcano Canon and Sunfury Annihilator right at the ground. The knights saw the weapons coming to bear and Daeran shouted, "Break, break, BREAK!"

The enormous weapons fired together creating an inferno of destruction all around but the Knights were already scattering and though they were buffeted and rocked by the blast they rode on unharmed. All that was left was a wide glassy crater in the dirt before 'Lator Angor', a hole that a week's drilling couldn't have produced and the Titan screamed insanely in vexation as it realised that it had missed. The Knights saw that it had expended its weapon's power for a few precious moments and Daeran cried, "That's our opening, veer off and draw it into position, speed is our only chance!" As one the five Knights broke away and ran back the way they had come, galloping for all they were worth as they turned their backs on the foe. 'Lator Angor' snarled and gave chase, incapable of thought so epic was its rage, it had been hurt by these pests and revenge was the only thing the Daemon within was capable of understanding.

Kayar pressed 'Heart of Zeal' for all it was worth, channelling everything he had into the quest for speed, begging the ghosts of his ancestors to lend whatever aid they could to quicken his steed's feet. Roads and turnings raced past as they galloped along and all the while 'Lator Angor' was hot in pursuit, its stride slow but each pace covering vast amounts of ground. Kayar felt ice dripping down his back at the thought that the Titan's weapons could recharge at any moment but just as he was convinced the knights had failed he saw the great cooling towers of the smelter's yard ahead. 'Lator Angor' saw it too and with a bellow unleashed an Apocalypse missile that flew over the Knight's head so close it sent their sensorium's buzzing with static, as the missile blew apart a hab block Howle voxed, "It doesn't want us going in there!"

"Too bad" cried Daeran, "Here we go!" and as one the Knight dashed into the yard, running between the soaring towers. 'Lator Angor' slowed a hairsbreadth in suspicion but Kayar twisted his Icarus guns around and fired a rearward burst back at the Titan, the shells deflected off the void shields harmlessly but the Daemon was incensed and doubled its pace.

As its weapons blazed back into life 'Lator Angor' chased the Knights into the smelters yard, consumed by the desire to rip them apart and taste the agony of their deaths, little suspecting that this was exactly what the Knights had wanted.


	12. Chapter 12

**Broken Giants: Chapter 12**

Under the shadow of the cooling towers the Knights raced for their lives, each breaking away and running on his own path as they wove amongst the looming edifices. Close behind them 'Lator Angor' blared its horn as it pursued them into the smelter's yard, its rage was staggering to behold and the Daemon within was crazed by the need to crush the foe beneath its feet.

In 'Heart of Zeal' Kayar was running for his life, weaving randomly to prevent the Titan getting a clean lock. This terrain worked to their advantage for the Warlord had to check its fire; a sloppy shot here could bring down a tower on its head which gave the Knights a brief opportunity to enact their plan. Kayar felt his guts churning at knowing how slim their chances of success were but the ghosts of his ancestors whispered to him, telling him to be brave and stand firm.

Kayar circled around one of the bell shaped towers and found he had looped back on himself for he was headed right at 'Lator Angor', his steed barely came up to its knee and its weapons could obliterate him with ease but thankfully it was facing away from him. The Titan was moving along the perimeter of yard hunting for targets but the Knights needed it to move deeper within, Kayar raised his Thermal canon and fired a blast that blew out yet another Void shield. He gritted his teeth at the sight, the damned thing's shields recharged faster than they could knock them out but today taking out shields was not essential to the plan. 'Lator Angor' bellowed in rage at being shot and stamped ponderously about on its wide feet, Kayar let it turn just enough to see his steed before he dashed back behind a cooling tower making sure to give it no clean line of sight. The Daemonic Titan bellowed as it set off in pursuit, chasing him like a canine after a jackrabbit, Kayar led it deeper into the yard at a full gallop, ducking behind towers often to keep it from gaining a target lock. The Warlord screamed in fury but retained enough sense not to fire off random blasts, any kills here would have to be up close and personal, just how the Daemon liked it.

Kayar twisted around a tower and gasped, he must have got lost in the maze of stacks and taken a wrong turn, before him was only a wide stretch of rail lines and low buildings, not enough to hide him. There was no turning back so he pressed on regardless, struggling to cross the area before the Titan could lock onto him but a roar of triumph announced he was too slow, 'Lator Angor' had found him. He could practically feel the targeting sweep brushing over him and the mighty weapons coming to bear but before it could fire a hail of plasma bolts shot out from the flank and lit up the Titan's shields. Kayar twisted his sensorium around and saw 'Frostfury' standing at the edge of the yard shocklance blazing, the Titan was thrown into confusion as its Daemonic brain was torn between targets but then Daeran fired another salvo and the Warlord changed course, thirsting to kill the challenger.

'Frostfury' dashed away and now it was Daeran playing the bait, running before the lumbering monster, Kayar followed at a safe distance watching the brave Knight leading the Titan onwards and luring it into position. Deeper and deeper they went into the yard until cooling stacks surrounded them on all sides and even the Titan was cast into shadow. Daeran dashed along one row of towers, passing in between a cluster of three standing together as a triplet and 'Lator Angor' followed close on his heels, lining up its weapons for shot. At the last second Daeran veered 'Frostfury' to one side and the trap was revealed: an Imperial Guard Shadowsword sitting hull down and ready to fire.

'Lator Angor' roared in surprise but before it could react the Volcano canon erupted with a thunderous retort, birthing a massive spear of coherent light that blazed across the distance and hit the Titan dead on. Massive electromagnetic waves blasted outwards in all directions, as laser blast met energy field and static discharge crawled over everything, with a flat bang the void shields collapsed and the laser shot onwards to spear into the Titan's chest. The Daemon shrieked in denial and agony as its torso was penetrated, armour melting and thick ablative plates incinerating, on and on the beam came carving into the Titan's chest and cutting into its heart. 'Lator Angor' screamed in agony as vital systems burned out and a spear of ravaging energy was driven into its very guts, reality buckled as the Daemon tried to flee but it was bound to its physical form and unable to slip back into the Warp it suffered. For a single moment it looked like the Titan was bested but then the energy ran out and the beam died, the Warlord stood wounded and bleeding but it yet lived.

Silence fell as the head of 'Lator Angor' fell and black oily blood dripped from the great wound torn in its chest, the world waited with baited breath for its response but then the terrible head rose and the reactor growled once more. The Daemonic Titan gazed upon its tormentor and its metal face pulled into a taut grimace as it sneered at the Shadowsword, it took a great lumbering step forwards intending to blast the tank at close range but there it paused. Despite everything some shred of self-preservation held it from lumbering forwards and instead of charging mindlessly at the foe it raised its own Volcano canon. The Shadowsword rumbled as the crew tried desperately to restart the drained engine but they were too slow and even as they struggled to escape the Titan fired, unleashing a ravening beam of energy of its own. The super-heavy tank was stout and well armoured but this was no Titan and energy that could punch through a mountain hit the machine dead on, obliterating all and reducing the Shadowsword to charred ruins in seconds.

From the far side of the triplet towers Kayar gasped in disbelief but he was more surprised when an angry roar of denial arose from behind the Titan, he peered into his sensorium and saw Retribution's Fist' charging from cover with Lugarn gunning his weapons in a mad dash to make contact. He galloped forwards with a cry upon his lips and fire in his heart as he sought to end this monster once and for all, but still he was not fast enough. Even as he closed the distance 'Lator Angor' raised its great tail high above and swept it down like a hammer, smashing right onto the canopy of 'Retributions Fist'. The wrecking ball hit dead square over the cockpit and reinforced armour gave way under the weight of the blow, folding inwards and collapsing to crush the interior compartment into a heap of jagged metal. 'Retributions Fist' ground to a halt as its pilot and Throne Mechanicum were reduced to a pulp and it was left standing there like a weathered statue, Kayar was aghast at the sight but whereas he was stunned Daeran was already in motion.

Letting out a cry from its vox hailers 'Frostfury' raced into the fray, shocklance blasting plasma bolts at the shieldless Titan, the small blasts seared armour plates off the Warlord but did little real damage. 'Lator Angor' sneered in contempt and brought its Sunfury Annihilator about, charged and ready to fire, it tracked the Lancer for a moment and then fired the mighty gun. 'Frostfury' threw itself to one side out of the path of the bolts, reacting with reflexes so quick an Astartes would have deemed them competent but Daeran was slowed by the limp of his Engine and even as he dived aside one bolt snared his steed's right leg below the knee and vaporised the limb entirely. The Ceratus-Lancer toppled over and sprawled in the dust, rolling helplessly over on its back, utterly defenceless before the Titan, 'Lator Angor' leered at its prey and took a great step forwards to relish this kill.

Kayar saw the desperate plight of his fellow Knight and in that moment cast aside all his hesitations and doubts committing his life and soul to the defence of his brother Knight, glory became just a word to him now for only one thing mattered, his duty to the life of his kinsman. 'Heart of Zeal' galloped into battle, Thermal canon unleashing a blast of fusion energy that scored across the face of 'Lator Angor' and the Titan winced at the gash to its face. It heaved itself about to meet the charging Knight head on, its primary weapons were spent but it still had its tail and secondary weapons so it charged forth to finish this fight in close range. The Warlord took one step and another and then it was in the dead centre of the trio of cooling towers, right where the Knights had wanted it to be and in that second Kayar's finger hit a button in his cockpit.

Instantly a wave of demolition blasts rang out encircling the bases of the three cooling towers, each detonation blowing apart a support strut in a carefully timed sequence. Imperial Guard sappers had spent hours methodically rigging up the demolition charges and had precisely placed the explosives along one side of each stack, the looming structures swayed drunkenly as half their supports disappeared and then they fell majestically inward. 'Lator Angor' screamed in denial as it saw hundreds of thousands of tons of masonry cascading down upon it, an avalanche made of Ferrocrete and Plasteel tumbling earthwards as the towers lost their shape. The Titan tried to flee but it was boxed in on three sides and there was no way to escape, all it could do was roar impotently as a mountain fell upon it and buried it in a terrible man-made disaster.

Meanwhile 'Heart of Zeal' was rocked on its feet as the avalanche fell, even outside the trap the tremors were ferocious, Kayar struggled to stay upright as his sensorium was swamped by dust and ash. For long seconds he fought his steed and fought not to be buried but at last silence fell and the earth quietened beneath his feet. The sensorium cleared and Kayar peered out to see what had occurred, before him was a mountain of rubble and loose stone with jagged metal stumps sticking out of it. It took him a long moment to realise that the avalanche had tipped 'Lator Angor' over on its back and now only its head and the tips of its weapons were visible, it was helpless but not dead. Without a moment's hesitation Kayar leapt forwards, clambering onto the pinned Titan's chest to stand over its heart, he wasted not a moment on proud speeches or brazen displays but merely levelled his Thermal Canon and fired it point blank into the Warlord's face.

Metal parted and the face caved inwards as his shot burned into the twisted braincase incinerating all within, there was cry of mixed anguish and relief as something died and something else far fouler was ejected back into the Warp and finally the Titan went still and silent. Kayar shut off his weapon and heaved for air, drained by the intensity of the fight, he felt like he had been fighting for hours but his Sensorium told him it had been mere minutes. Kayar turned about and saw the other Knights had arrived and were assisting 'Frostfury', Kayar, Hendrick, Howle and Daeran the only survivors of their lance but they stood victorious and he rasied his Reaperblade in salute.

Seeing the youth standing there Daeran raised his shocklance from the ground and called, "A fine shot!"

Howle raised his chainfist and called, "A victory to be remembered!"

Last of all was Hendrick who cried, "Well done… Titan-Slayer!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Broken Giants: Chapter 13**

Across the broken and burnt landscape of Almanium lines of vehicles trudged onward, waves of Chimera's, Leman Russ' Cargo-8's and a single half-melted Baneblade rolling in the direction of the spaceport, with the Titan slain the war to retake this world had been short and swift indeed and now they were shipping out once more. Meanwhile another column of similar vehicles was grinding along in the other direction, bringing fresh troops to garrison this world while the conquerors moved on to new wars. The ground was being churned to mud beneath their tracks, spraying dirt upon the shining armour of the newcomers while the weary, dirty victors cast resentful glances and muttered about those who came last having the easiest jobs.

Among the departing conquerors was a single massive machine, as broad and as long as a command Leviathan, though significantly less armed and armoured it still rumbled towards the landing fields on wide double caterpillar track units. It was a Crawler of the Questor Imperalis, a mobile base, repair yard and recharging point for Imperial Knights and it was returning to be collected by a Drop-Keep and then on to San Grael. Within the lumbering machine gangs of Sacristans went to and fro attending to arcane mysteries and performing ancient rituals to appease the Machine Spirits while in its holding bay slumbered five mighty War Machines, 'Frostfury', 'Stygian Blaze', 'Heart of Zeal', 'Lifeward' and 'Retirbution's Fist'. The weary steeds were being loving attended to as their wounds were healed and components replaced as needed, 'Retribution's Fist' in particular was receiving lavish care as its shattered carapace was methodically excised. The Sacristans were still pulling bits of sinew and bone from the warped metal but they were adamant that the sacred machine would be restored and the Knight Gallant would march again someday.

Standing on a high observation gallery overlooking the hold were two men, peering through thick armourglass which reflected their stubble lined faces back at them. It was Kayar and Hendrick and they watched the Sacristans at work, they both knew the artisans were not exclusively loyal to House Verico (The Sacristans of San Grael forming their own independent priestly order) but no adept worthy of the name would give any less than his full devotion to such noble steeds. Both men looked pale and their hands shook from withdrawal symptoms as they watched, to settle their nerves they had ordered a keg of rich ale set up on a trestle table and they both supped from frothy tankards leaving foamy flecks in their beards. Kayar didn't realise it but Hedrick was pacing himself, making sure his young ward wasn't going to overdo it trying to keep up, the last thing anyone wanted was a hangover when boosting into orbit.

Kayar drew in a long gulp of ale and said, "It seems so odd seeing them like this."

Hendrick sipped from his own flagon and replied, "Never looks right does it, seeing so ardent a steed at rest."

Kayar knew what he meant and declared, "I feel Heart of Zeal calling out to me, yearning to be whole once more, to gallop into battle."

Hendrick placed a hand upon the armourglass and said, "The Sacristans claim it is just a symptom of withdraw ague, that it is all in our minds and only our minds but those who have ridden a Knight Engine know that a steed does not rest easy."

Kayar frowned and said, "I only hope it isn't too long before we return to war once more."

Hendrick turned and gazed out the other end of the observation gallery which looked forwards from the Crawler, he peered at the long line of Guardsmen making their way along and said, "War calls for us all, even them."

Kayar joined him and looked out at the weary men trundling along in the mud, the smoking vehicles and medicae trucks all far below his elevated position and said, "My Grandfather tells me to look down upon such men as peasant folk but they fought bravely and well, especially that Major... sorry Colonel Weyan."

Hendrick nodded and said, "A Knight who isn't convinced he is the greatest warrior in the galaxy isn't worth his sword… but if you can remember that mere men can be courageous too then you will be a better Patriarch than your Grandfather someday."

Kayar said, "Do you know where they will go next?"

Hendrick sighed and said, "To the next war and the next, on and on until they can't fight anymore… such is life in the Imperial Guard."

Kayar frowned and said, "I thought veteran guardsmen got shipped out to colonise new worlds."

Hendrick shook his head and said sadly, "Most of that lot won't live to see it, they will die forgotten and unmourned on some distant world and the galaxy will forget they ever lived or died."

Kayar leaned on the glass and peered at the long line leading off to the looming form of the Drop-Keep in the distance, slowly growing more distinct as they approached, it was truly massive easily able to swallow the Crawler with room to spare in fact only the majestic Coffin Lander of the Titan Legions was larger. Kayar gazed at the other mighty structure which was loading the corpses of the loyalist Titans and said, "Speaking of the dead what a sad sight that is, three God-Engines slain."

Hendrick snorted and replied, "It is not the first time they have died in battle, no Titan fights for thousands of years without dying at least once. It may take centuries but the Tech-Priests will not rest until the Titans are restored, they will lavish repairs and blessings upon the broken giants until they arise to walk once more."

Kayar was surprised to hear that and said, "So what's next for us?"

Hendrick grinned and said, "Next we return you to San Grael and receive the laurels due to a Titan-Slayer, your upcoming wedding will have more nobles in attendance than House Verico has hosted in its history."

Kayar was both pleased and annoyed by that, politics among the Knightly Houses and their vassals was a complex business of interconnected blood ties where marriage was the one true bed rock of alliances amid the ever shifting web. Careful selection of spouses for one's children was essential to survival in such a feudal society and Kayar had been arranged to wed a daughter of the Berael family. Not a Knight House themselves but extremely wealthy and well connected among the lesser families who existed below the seven ennobled dynasties of San Grael, as his father said, money and influence had a nobility all their own. Kayar had only met his betrothed twice and was unsure of the match, on the one hand his adolescent eye would have preferred a girl of fuller bosom, tighter rear and poutier lip but on the other he had been surprised by her keen insight and clever wit. Hendrick had remarked more than once that the girl was a lot smarter than the young Knight and Kayar was just mature enough to suspect that his mentor was right.

His musing were interrupted by the sound of boots behind them on the gallery, he turned about and saw two other nobles entering the bay, it was Sir Daeran and Sir Howle. Kayar and Hendrick bowed to the Magna Preceptor and the newcomers bowed in respect for fellow Knights then Daeran gestured to their tankards with a shaking hand saying, "You wouldn't have two more of those?"

Hendrick grinned and lifted two more tankards from the table and filled them before he passed them around, not as a servant but as a man among equals. Daeran and Howle quaffed deeply and drained their flagons in one go, Howle smacked his lips and said, "I needed that" as he went to fill up his drink.

Kayar watched him for a moment than asked, "What brings you here?"

Daeran was steadied by the ale and responded, "We came to inspect the repairs to our steeds and I see you felt the same need."

Kayar nodded and stated, "Our steeds call to us, just as yours do."

Daeran replied, "Indeed no Knight can ignore the yearning and you have proved a most worthy Knight, to slay a Titan shall see your name engraved above the High King's feast hall."

Kayar smiled at the compliment and said, "It is I who should be thanking you, you led us well and nobly surely songs will be sung of your valour."

There was a brief cough and Kayar saw Howle standing by the keg with a raised eyebrow to indicate he had been there too, so the youth said, "Of course credit is due to all, Houses Verico, Pardus and Jacquar won as a team and deserve to be equally honoured, even Houses Ursal and Gyrfalcon must be remembered for their sacrifices."

Howle raised his tankard and said, "The Knights of Houses Tuskgor and Mammuthus will turn green with envy when they hear we took down a Warlord Titan!"

Daeran smiled and declared, "Truly House Verico has shown its quality and the rewards shall be great."

Hendrick stepped forwards and asked, "You don't mean?"

Daeran grinned and said, "Yes the Tech-Priests of Crux Lapis recently sent word that a new shipment of virgin Knight Engines are nearing completion, I am not giving away any secrets when I say that my uncle the High King of San Grael shall be calling a tourney soon."

Everybody lit up at that for such events were celebrations for the whole planet and Kayar breathed, "Imagine that… Jousting and mock-melees."

Hedrick commented, "Not to mention feasts and revels for the common folk."

Howle chimed in, "And there will be laurels for the glorious slayers of Titans, bestowments of lands and mansions of our own."

Daeran said, "I am sure your Patriarch will wish you to be there, you will soon be House Verico's greatest asset in the political wrangling to come, your Grandfather will certainly have a strong case to receive a few more steeds for your stables."

Kayar was heartened by that and he asked, "Then we will see each other again?"

Daeran replied with a smile on his lip, "I would count it a privilege to ride alongside you once more."

Hendrick raised his tankard and declared, "A toast then, to our great victory!"

Howle raised his own saying, "To the laurels and boons due the victors!"

Daeran joined in saying, "To our new friendship!"

Kayar was last to speak and said, "To our future and the glorious battles yet to come!"

The End


End file.
